
: 



'•%o 

J.0^ O 

A *■ 

-!> ♦ ^ ♦ . 



<!U 'o*'** .0 






<0 % ^'- f° V'»».o- 

V '’•°'. <^f. ^ 

L**- <$>■ * • '^. .A*^ 

♦ •4-^ ^ \ 



' ♦ 





^ ® ° r\> 5 • • A 

{\ o ^^p. 

,vv r>*. ■ T// 0» \w -k 




























THE 




HISTORY 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


/ 


AS TO A FORM OF PRAYER AND 
ECCLESIASTICAL RITES, I HIGH- 
LY APPROVE THAT IT SHOULD BE 
CERTAIN, FROM WHICH IT MaV 
NOT BE LAWFUL FOR ANY MINIS- 
TER TO DEPART. — JOHN CALVIN. 




9 


/ 


) 



THE 

* 


HISTORY 

% 

O F A 

\ 

POCKET PRAYEE BOOK. 


WRITTEN. BY ITSELF. 

! *1 * 


NEXT TO THE BIBLE, THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER IS THE 
BOOK OF MY UNDERSTANDING, AND OF MY HEART. 





• PHILADELPHIA: 

R. S. H. GEORGE, 26 SOUTH FIFTH STREET. 

1844. 


.-9 


A V 


Entered according to the act of Congress, in the year 1844, 
by B. DORR, in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the 
Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 




King & Baird, Printers, 
No. 9 George Stieet. 


TO . 


THE REV. JOHN C. RUDD, D.D. 


AT WHOSE SUGGESTION 

THIS WORK WAS FIRST UNDERTAKEN, 

THE AUTHOR 

AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBES 
THE PRESENT EDITION, 

AS A TESTIMONY 


OF HIS RESPECT AND ESTEEM 

F 0 n 

AN. OLD AND VALUED 

FRIEND. 





1 




GIVE ME THE PRAYERS OF MY MOTHER THE CHURCH 
THERE BE NONE LIKE HERS. GEORGE HERBERT. 




ADVERTISEMENT. 


The following work, having passed through 
numerous editions, has now been revised by the 
author, and some new matter has been added, 
which, he trusts, will render it more acceptable 
and useful. He is encouraged in the hope that 
it has been, and will continue to be, an humble 
auxiliary in the cause of the church, by the 
favourable notice which it has received from 
church periodicals, at home and abroad; and 
from the fact that it has been republished, within 
the last year, by the Church Society of the dio- 
cese of Toronto, in Canada ; who have given it 
the first place on their list of publications. But 
the most gratifying to his feelings is the com- 
mendation bestowed upon it by his estimable 


Viii ADVERTISEMENT. 

friend, the late Rev. William Parker, of London ; 
who, for thirty-two years, was the faithful secre- 
tary of the venerable Society for Promoting 
Christian Knowledge. As that friend has now 
gone to his rest, the author feels a melancholy 
satisfaction in recording, in this place, the fol- 
lowing extract from one of his letters. 

“ Your History of a Pocket Prayer Book has 
long been a great favourite in my family. A 
copy of this very instructive little work was 
given some years ago by a* pious clergyman of 
the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United 
States of America, to my younger daughter, 
who is now the wife of the learned and excellent 
Chief Justice of New Zealand, the Honourable 
William Martin. In December last she sailed 
to join her husband, on board the Tomatin, in 
company with the Lord Bishop of New Zealand, 
his amiable lady, and a band of devoted clergy- 
men, catechists, schoolmasters, <fcc. I have 
reason to believe that the judge and my dear 


ADVERTISEMENT. 


IX 


daughter will zealously co-operate with the 
bishop in every good work ; and that she has 
been much encouraged to do so by the perusal 
of your little History.” 

In preparing this volume for the press, the 
author’s chief object is to recommend, in a plain 
familiar way, the doctrines and usages of his 
own church ; and in doing this, he desires to 
“ maintain and set forward, as much as in him 
lies, quietness, peace, and love, among all Chris- 
tian people.” He thinks, with that humble and 
holy man of God, good old Richard Hooker, 
that “ there will come a time, when three words 
uttered with charity and meekness, shall receive 
a far more blessed reward, than three thousand 
volumes written with disdainful sharpness of 
wit;” and he desires always to speak and write 
under this conviction. 

The chief recommendation of the present 
work is, that it is based mainly upon facts ; most 
of the scenes and incidents having actually oc- 


1 


X 


ADVEETISEMENT. 


curred, at the time and in the manner as here 
related ; and many of them having come under 
the personal observation of the author. A few 
of the scenes are purely imaginary ; that in 
chapter fourteenth is one ; the narrative there 
being designed to exhibit the advantage of the 
Prayer Book to the convicts in our prisons. 
The story of the congregational minister, in 
chapter third, is taken from Chandler’s life of 
Dr. Johnson. The account of the missionary, in 
chapter sixth, is in the main literally true. The 
conversation, in chapter twelfth, is given almost 
word for word as it occurred. The history of the 
layman, in chapter thirteenth, and his successful 
efforts in building up a church, are true to the 
letter. The character of the benevolent widow, 
in chapter fifteenth, is a faithful portrait of one 
of the most humble and devoted Christians, now 
no more, that the present age has been blessed 
with. The scene on board the steamboat, in 
chapter sixteenth, is slightly varied from a nar- 


ADVERTISEMENT, 


XI 


rative given by an intimate friend of the young 
man there mentioned, whose family belonged to 
tliO' author’s parish ; and the obituary notice, 
with which the chapter closes, is taken from a 
Charleston paper, published at the time of Jiis 
decease. The author’s visit to Oneida Castle, in 
company with Bishop Hobart, as related in 
chapter seventeenth, and his subsequent visit to 
Green Bay, are both given with an exact adhe- 
rence to actual circumstances. Many other scenes 
and incidents, founded on facts, have been woven 
into the history ; and it is believed that nothing 
will be found on the following pages, which 
does not come within the limits of reasonable 
probability. 

If any apology is necessary for introducing 
the Prayer Book as its own historian, the author 
can only say, that he thought it the easiest and 
best method of imparting interest to the whole 
subject ; and that he had many excellent prece- 
dents to justify him. Such fictions have often- 


XU 


ADVERTISEMENT. 


times been profitably employed in conveying 
instruction. 

The author now sends this little volume abroad 
into the world, with fervent prayers that the 
divine blessing may go with it ; and in the 
humble hope that it may be instrumental, in 
some degree, in directing those who are seeking 
for “the old paths,” into that “good and right 
way,” which leadeth to everlasting life. 

B . Dorr. 


Philadelphia, October, 1843 . 


CONTENTS. 


Page. 

Chapter I. 13 

Reasons for writing this History. — The Prayer 
Book’s Ancestors. — Their Persecutions. — When 
and where first introduced to the world. 

Chapter II. 19 

A Christmas Present. — Family Prayers. — Christ- 
mas Day. — Decoration of the Church. — The Ser- 
mon. — How the rest of the day was passed. 

Chapter III. 27 

Confirmation. — The Prayer Book falls into the 
hands of a Congregational Minister. — The use 
he makes of it. — Prepares to take orders in the 
Chmrch. — Gives his Prayer Book to an emigrant. 

Chapter IV. 34 

Travels in Western New York. — An Emigrant’s 
Life. — A Union Church. — Lay Reading. 

Chapter V. 43 

Lay Reading continued. — Religious dissensions 
among the various sects. — Accessions to the 
Church. 


XIV 


CONTENTS. 


Page. 

Chapter VI. 47 

Arrival of an Episcopal Minister. — Father N — , 
the Missionary. — Divine Service. — Baptism. — The 
Sermon. — Holy Communion. 

Chapter VII. 59 

Church built.— Visit -of another Missionary, the 
Rev. D. Phelps. — His character. — Church Conse- 
crated. — Confirmation. 

Chapter VIII. 66 

Visit of the Rev. Mr. P . — His kindness to 

Children. — The Prayer Book resumes its travels 
with him. — Joy at Mr. P ’s return. — Descrip- 

tion of his residence. — He visits his parishioners. — 
Their affection for him. 

Chapter IX. - - - - - 74 

Character of Mr. P . — Importance of paro- 

chial visitation. — Sunday-School instruction. — 
Qualifications of Teachers. — Public Catechising. 

Chapter X. ‘ 80 

A new acquaintance. — A candid inquirer after 
“ the old paths.” — The Prayer Book passes into 
other hands. — Prejudices against the church, re- 
sulting from ignorance of her character and claims. 

— Episcopal Theologians. — Eloquent tribute of a 
Presbyterian Divine to Episcopacy. 

Chapter XI. 92 

Doctrines of the Church. — Necessity of a 
change of heart. — Comprehensiveness of the Pray- 
er Book. — Advantages of Public Formularies. — 
Calvin’s Opinion on this subject. — Length of the 
Daily Service. 


CONTENTS. 


XV 


Page. 

Chapter XII. 103 

The Prayer Book is sent by Mr. L , a pre- 

sent to his mother. — His letter. — How received by 
the good lady — Her prejudices against the Church. 

— How removed. — A.n interesting Conversation. — 
Undes^igned eulogium on the office for Family De- 
votion. 

Chapter XIII. 114 

The Prayer Book resumes its travels.^ — Autum- 
nal Scenery. — Journey through Ohio and Penn- 
sylvania. — Mineral Springs at B . — Church 

service in a Presbyterian house of worship. — 
Returns to New York. — Unexpected separation 
from its master. — Comes into possession of a lay- 
man. — Witnesses the gathering of a new congre- 
gation, and the erection of another Church, in 
South-western New York. 

Chapter XIV. 123 

Unlooked-for separation. — A young Convict. — 

Form of Prayer for the Visitation of Prisoners. — 

A penitent Criminal — Advantage of Prayer 
Books in our state prisons. — The Convict released. 

Chapter XV. 133 

The Prayer Book again changes hands. — An 
aged Christian widow. — Her character. Acts of ^ 
charity. — Saturday-school for the poor. 

Chapter XVI. 141 

The Prayer Book is presented to a clergyman, 
who resigns his parish on account of ill health. — 

His last sermon. — Leaves home for the South. — 

Sail down the Hudson. — Early Reminiscences. — 
Steam-boat adventure. — Eloquent defence of the 
Church. — Obituary notice of Rev. Mr. N . 


XVI 


CONTENTS. 


Page. 

154 


Chapter XVIL - 

Visit to the Oneida Indians, in New ^York. — 
Interesting religious services among them. — Con- 
firmation^ — Communion. — An Indian Council. — 

The Liturgy admirably adapted to the circum- || 
stances of the heathen. — Duty of Christians in re- . * 

ference to the Indian tribes. . 

Chapter XVIII. 163 | 

Oneidas at Green Bay. — Prayer Book’s extensive l 
travels. — Interesting statistics of the Church. — Tour 
through the Southern and South-western States.' — 
Bishop of Tennessee. — Interesting anecdotes of liim, | 

and of the Bishop of North Carolina. f 

Chapter XIX. 169 ' 

Tour through the great lakes, to the Wisconsin j 
Territory.— Diocese of New York ; its rapid growth. | 
— Detroit ; prosperity of the Church there. — Macki- i 

nac ; lay reading by an officer of the fort. — Green ! 

Bay Mission School. — Oneida Indians at Duck 
Creek. — Their zeal and liberality. — Bishop of Michi- j 

gan-s visit to them.— The Prayer Book finishes its ] 
travels, and settles quietly down in a parish. ' 

Chapter XX. - - - - ^ - 178 

The more the Liturgy is studied, the more it will 
be prized. — Testimony of the Rev. Adam Clarke. — 

The Prayer Book’s parting advice. — Concluding re- 
flections. 


ft: > 

■ ^ ' .■ 




THE HISTORY 

O F A 

POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


CHAPTER I. 

Reasons for writing this History. — The Prayer Book’s 
Ancestors. — Their Persecutions. — When and where 
first introduced to the world. 

In giving my history to^ the world, it is in 
justice due to myself to say, that I do it with a 
sincere desire of benefiting mankind. Having 
had much experience by travelling through va- 
rious parts of our country, and, from my close 
intimacy with a great variety of persons, having 
obtained a deep insight into human character, 
the account of what I have seen and heard may 
serve to amuse and instruct my friends, and 
possibly do away some of the prejudices of 
• 2 


14 


THE HISTORY OF A 


such of my enemies as may chance to read this 
brief memoir. 

I am descended from an ancient and noble 
family, which can be traced back to the first 
years of the Christian era. My ancestors were 
eminent for their piety and learning, and espe- 
cially for their thorough acquaintance with, 
and deep reverence for, the Holy Scriptures ; 
and for many hundred years have borne a con- 
spicuous part in all the great events which 
have taken place in the Christian church, as all 
ecclesiastical history will show. They were 
particularly distinguished in England, during 
that highly interesting and important period 
called the Reformation ; and numbered among 
their warmest friends, the Cranmers, the Lati- 
mers, and the Ridleys, of that day. The part 
they then took was marked by sound sense 
and discretion, as well as by fervent piety and 
zeal. They became, in fact, the 'glory of the 
Reformation ; and have ever since been consid- 
ered the most able defenders of the Protestant 
cause, and the most successful opposers of heresy 
and error, in all Christendom. Yet, notwith- 
standing they have done so much for the sup- 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


15 


port and diffusion of pure religion, they have 
often met with violent abuse from persons of 
weak minds, who had been taught to look 
upon them as dangerous heretics ; but those old 
prejudices have happily worn away, and the 
meed of praise is now awarded them, by those 
who were loudest in their censures, as their 
virtues and services become better known. 

Some of my ancestors came over to this 
country, from England, soon after the settle- 
ment of America; but, being “few in number, 
and strangers in the land,” they suffered se- 
verely from their Puritanical predecessors, who, 
in destroying them, “thought they did God 
service.” Those who came out some years 
after, under the patronage of the “ Society for 
propagating the Gospel in foreign parts,” met 
with somewhat better success ; but they also 
had many powerful and bigoted enemies, who 
regarded them as mere formalists in religion, 
and as no better than Popish refugees. They 
formed, it is true, a distinct class of worship- 
pers, adhering to their ancient usages, and not 
choosing to forsake “ the old paths,” wherein 
their forefathers had walked, for every new and 


16 


THE HISTORY OF A 


eccentric by-way. The consequence was, al- 
though they were disposed to be quiet and 
peaceable, and not to interfere “in other men’s 
matters,” yet their strange forms and ceremo- 
nies were ridiculed, and they themselves were 
“ every where spoken against.” Such was the 
hostility to the festivals and holy days which 
my ancestors had observed from time imme- 
morial, that in one of the New England states it 
was enacted, that “ whosoever should be found 
observing any such day as Christmas and the 
like, either by forbearing labour, feasting, or any 
other way, upon such an account as aforesaid, 
every such person, so offending, should pay 
for every such offence, five shillings as a fine to 
the county.”* 

When the disturbances between this country 
and England broke out, my ancestors, who 
happened to be of English origin, suffered more 
than ever from the persecuting spirit of their 
enemies. Their religion being the same with 
that of the national Church of England, it was 
absurdly argued that their attachment must 


* Law of Massachusetts in 1651. 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


17 


extend to the English government and laws. — 
Intelligent and truly pious men saw, indeed, 
that the connexion of my family with the 
Church of England was purely accidental, and 
that they might, notwithstanding such connex- 
ion, zealously espouse the American cause, 
and resolutely ^ resist British oppression and 
wrong. Indeed, one of the best friends my an- 
cestors ever had in this country, and one who 
always spoke of them with reverence and 
esteem,^ was himself the leader of the American 
armies — the virtuous, the high-minded, the im- 
mortal Washington. He had been brought up 
in the Episcopal church, and was a constant 
and devout attendant upon her services. The 
common people, however, were incapable of 
discriminating between rational formularies of 
devotion, and the mass-book of the Romish 
Church ; or between an innocent conformity to 
the religious usages of England, and an appro- 
val of the part she was taking in relation to her 
colonies. My forefathers, therefore, were in- 
discriminately branded as “tories,” and were 
either obliged to lie concealed, or flee the coun- 
try. Most of them went back to England. — 
2 * « 


18 


THE HISTORY OF A 


Some few remained ; and were it not foreign 
from my present purpose, I could relate many 
amusing anecdotes of the abuse and violence 
poured upon them, during the stormy period of 
the revolution. I say amusing, for at this late 
day such stories would wear the air of fiction ; 
and are only calculated to excite a smile, 
although the consequences were serious enough 
at the time. 

Peace with the mother country brought some 
respite to the persecutions with which my an- 
cestors had been assailed ; many of those who 
had fled during the troubles, returned again to 
America, with a reasonable prospect of sitting 
down quietly to worship God, as the Apostles 
and primitive Church, and their own immediate 
forefathers had worshipped Him. 

It was my good fortune to come into the 
world about this time. My earliest recollec- 
tion goes back about forty years, when I dis- 
tinctly remember being placed for sale on a 

bookseller’s shelf, in the town of H , in the 

state of Connecticut. This must have been in 
the year of our Lord 1790 ; for I well recollect 
hearing a great deal said about the Convention 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


19 


which had met the year before, for the purpose 
of revising the Liturgy ; and I myself am one of 
the revised copies of the Book of Common 
Prayer, set forth by that Convention. 


CHAPTER II. 

A Christmas Present. — Family Prayers. — Christmas Day. 
— Decoration of the Church. — The Sermon. — How 
the rest of the day was passed. 

♦ •* 

I HAD not been many weeks on the booksel- 
ler’s shelf, when one very cold day, in the month 
of December, a well-dressed middle-aged man, 
with a most benevolent countenance, came into 
the shop and said he wished to purchase some 
Christmas presents for his children. My master 
immediately spread out upon the counter all his 
variety of story and picture books, from which 
the stranger selected several of a religious and 
instructive character, and then asked to look at 
some Pocket Bibles and Prayer Books. These 


20 


THE HISTORY OF A 


were accordingly handed down, and after exam- 
ining them, to see tha't the binding was good, 
and the volumes perfect in all their parts, the 
gentleman made choice of me, and also of a neat 
little Pocket Bible, similarly bound, saying, as 
he wrapped them up, they would be a suitable 
Christmas gift for his little daughter ; then bid- 
ding the bookseller “ Good morning,” he walked 
out of the shop. 

Never shall I forget my first interview with 
the good gentleman’s family. He had many ' 
miles to ride, and it was the evening preceding | 
Christmas day when he reached home. The j 
children all ran out to meet him, and the little 
ones were very inquisitive to know what he 
had brought them for their holiday presents. 
His wife kindly assisted him to lay off his outer ! 
coat, and then placed a chair for •him by the i 
blazing hearth. Soon they gathered around the | 
social tea-table, as cheerful and happy a circle | 
as ever met at the same family board. After 1 
tea the presents were unpacked and spread out I 
before the glistening and delighted eyes of the j 
children. There were various kinds of toys, 
and for each child a book adapted to its age and 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


21 


understanding. One of the daughters, a little 
girl about eleven years old, looked somewhat 
disconcerted when she saw all her brothers and 
sisters receiving presents, and none appeared 
designed for herself; but her countenance bright- 
ened up when her father presented her with the 
Pocket Bible and Prayer Book, saying, “ Here, 
Louisa, is the best present I can make you. 
These two books ought always to go together. 
Let them be your inseparable companions. Let 
the one be the rule and guide of your life, and 
let the other regulate your daily devotions. The 
one, by God’s grace, which you are diligently 
to seek for by humble prayer, will be ‘ a lamp 
unto your feet, and a light unto your path it 
will make you wise unto salvation ; the other 
will enable you to offer up your prayers in 
language pure, fervent, and scriptural, to your 
Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier; it will enable 
you to ‘ pray with the spirit, and with the un- 
derstanding also.’ Never, my child, neglect the 
use of these precious volumes, as you value my 
favour, the quiet of your own conscience, and 
the approbation of your God.” 

Little Louisa’s heart was so full that she could 


22 


THE HISTORY OF A 


not speak, and she only dropped a courtesy in | 
token of her gratitude for the gift, and her deter- I 
mination to abide by her father’s pious counsel. | 

At the usual hour, the family and servants I 
were all assembled for social worship, previous I 
to their retiring to rest. The father read a 
chapter from the old family Bible, and my 
young mistress looked over in her new pocket 

volume. All then knelt down, when Mr. B , 

(for that was the name of this good man,) read 
the excellent form of Family Prayer from the 
Liturgy, with a fervour of expression, which 
plainly told that his heart felt what his lips 
uttered. This I found was his universal prac- ‘ 
tice, both morning and evening; having long 
before adopted the resolution of the pious Israel- 
ite, that he and his house would serve the Lord. * 
All the family repeated after him the Lord’s 
prayer in an audible voice, and responded 
“ Amen,” at the end of each collect. It thus 
appeared that they, too, were attentive to the 
solemn duties in which they were engaged. 

When Louisa B retired to her chamber 

for the night, she took her Bible and Prayer i 
Book with her, and having read a chapter from f 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


23 


the former, and repeated several collects, from 
the latter, in addition to her customary prayers, 
she went to bed and slept soundly until morning. 

The next day being Christmas, the family 
rose early to prepare for church, which was 
three or four miles 'distant. The children were 
running about, as soon as the day dawned, with 
bright smiling faces and rosy cheeks, wishing 
each other “ a merry Christmas.” After family 
worship had been performed, and the breakfast 
was over, the little ones were dressed in their 
warm holiday suits, and the whole family set 
out in a sleigh for church ; my young mistress 
taking me and my more honourable companion 
with her. 

The church was a neat little building embo- 
somed in a grove of trees, which in summer 
afforded a refreshing shade ; but now, from their 
leafless boughs, numberless icicles hung glitter- 
ing in the morning sun. The interior of the 
church presented a delightful contrast to the 
winter desolation which reigned without. It was 
tastefully adorned with evergreens, according 
to the ancient custom of embellishing churches ; 
for the Saviour’s advent seems to be alluded to 


24 


THE HISTQRY OF A 


in that beautiful passage of the evangelical pro- 
phet : “ The glory of Lebanon (the cedar,) shall 
come unto thee, the fir-tree, the pine-tree, and 
the box-tree together, to beautify the place of 
my sanctuary and also in that other expres- 
sion of the same prophet, “ I will plant in the 
wilderness the cedar, the shittah-tree, and the 
myrtle, and the oil-tree ; I will set in the desert 
the fir-tree, and the pine-tree, and the box-tree 
together.”t These, and many similar passages 
to be met with in the prophets, led the Jews to 
expect the Messiah’s advent about the time of 
the winter Solstice, or the 25th of December ; 
and hence arose the custom of decorating 
churches with evergreens on that holy day. 

The services of the day were interesting and 
impressive ; the church was filled with worship- 
pers: and although many, from the different 
denominations in the neighbourhood, were no 
doubt drawn therp by motives of curiosity, yet 
all appeared attentive and devotional. When 
the minister read the lessons, my young mistress 
opened her Bible, and followed him through 


* Isa. lx. 13, 


f Isa. xli, 19. 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


25 


them with the most careful attention. When 
other parts of the service were performed, she 
made diligent and familiar use of me ; behaving 
throughout with the strictest propriety and deco- 
rum ; uttering every response in an audible voice ; 
kneeling when the confession and prayers were 
offered up, and standing when the Creed, and 
Anthems, and Psalms, were read -or sung. 

The sermon was a plain and practical dis- 
course, adapted to the occasion, setting forth the 
blessings of the Messiah’s advent, the necessity 
of all mankind’s being born anew in Christ 
.Tesus, or vain would it be for them that he was 
born into the world ; and exhorting to the culti- 
vation of all those virtues and graces, which 
alone could make that day a day of jubilee to the 
Christian, and enable him, in the fervour of 
thankfulness, to say, “ My soul doth magnify 
the Lord, and my spirit rejoiceth in God my 
Saviour.” 

After the morning services were ended, the 
people flocked around their beloved Pastor, and 
there were cordial shaking of hands, and mutual 
congratulations for being permitted to meet on 
that holy day, with warm wishes for many 
3 


26 


THE HISTORY OF A 


happy returns to all of them, of the blessed 
festival. My mistress went with her parents and 
brothers and sisters, to spend the rest of the day 
at her grandfather’s, who lived in an adjoining 
town ; where, according to the good old custom, [ 
• the whole of this patriarch’s family were assem- 1 
bled, to the third and fourth generation. The i 
afternoon and* evening passed in rational and i 
joyous festivity ; in that delightful social inter- 
course, which the poet Southey so beautifully i 
describes, in the following lines, on an English ' 
Christmas holiday : — 

“ Brightly o’er the cheerful hall 
Beams the heaped hearth, and friends and kindred meet ; 
And the glad mother, round her festive board. 

Beholds her children, separated long 

Amid the world’s wide way, assembled now, ^ 

And, at the sight, affection lightens up 

With smiles, the eye that age hath long bedimm’d.” 

I 

Thus pleasantly passed the first day with my ■ 
dear little Louisa, with whom I became more 
and more delighted, because she seemed to be 
daily more and more fond of me, as my subse- 
quent history will show. 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


27 


CHAPTER III. 

Confirmation. — The Prayer Book falls into the hands of a 
Congregational Minister. — The use he makes of it. — 
Prepares to take orders in the Church. — Gives his 
Prayer Book to an emigrant. • 

Louisa B had been carefully educated by 

her pious parents, who remembered the admoni- 
tion of the wise king of Israel — “ Train up a 
child in the way he should go, and when he is 
old he will not depart from it.” At that time 
there were no Sunday-schools established ; but 
her parents always heard her recite a lesson on 
a Sunday morning, and she often afterwards 
repeated it to the minister of the parish, after 
the evening service. When I first came into 
her possession she knew all the Catechism, 
and many of the Collects by heart ; and before 
I left her she could repeat them all, and had 
learned the greater part of the Epistles and 
Gospels. Nor were these truths fixed in her 
memory only ; they wbVe evidentally impressed 


28 . 


THE HISTORY OF A 


by divine grace upon her heart, and exercised a , 
salutary influence over her life. ! 

I remained with her three years ; during j' 
which time, by the divine blessing on parental |i 
instruction, she grew in grace, as she grew in i 
age, and became a truly lovely and pious child. 
When she was little more than fourteen years 
of age. Bishop S — ; — held a confirmation in 
the parish, and Louisa was admitted to that 
sacred rite ; not merely because she was old 
enough to say her catechism : but because, in 
the estimation of her pastor, who took unwea- 
ried pains to fit the young members of his con- 
gregation for this rite, she was well prepared 
to renew her Baptismal engagements. Louisa 
Had been faithfully taught, by her pious mother, 
how solemn was the vow which she was about 
to take upon herself, and exhorted to weigh the 
matter well, before she made this public and 
deliberate consecration of herself to God. The I 
Sunday following she came forward to the ' 
Holy Communion, and during the few months 
afterwards, in which I remained with her, she 
was ever careful to “ walk worthy of the high 
vocation wherewith she was called.” To her 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


29 


parents she was always dutiful, and to her broth- 
ers and sisters uniformly gentle and kind, and 
amiable and humble in her deportment towards 
all. These lovely virtues made her always 
cheerful and happy, and I have often mourned 
the day when we parted. 

Returning from Church one Sunday evening, 
with her Bible and Prayer Book wrapped up 
in her handkerchief, by some unlucky accident 
I slipped out, without her noticing it, and she 
walked on, leaving me in the path. It was 
nearly dark when I fell from my young mistress’s 
hand, and I lay all night in the street. The 
next morning I Avas picked up a venerable 
looking man in black, who proved to be a con- 
gregational clergyman, returning on horseback 
to his home in a remote part of the state. He 
hastily turned over my leaves, to ascertain the na- 
ture of his prize, and as he put me into his pocket 
and remounted his horse, I heard him say, “ This 
is just the thing.” What he meant by “just the 
thing,” I had afterwards to learn; but consider- 
ing it at the time a compliment to myself, or at 
least an expression of good will, I felt no soli- 
citude as to my future treatment, although I 
3 * 


30 


THE HISTORY OF A 


could not but regret being thus separated from 
my dear young mistress, who I knew would 
grieve when she discovered her loss. 

My new master, on his arrival at home, 
placed me upon his study table, and from that 
moment I was his daily companion. On Sa- 
turday evening, especially, he studied me with 
the closest attention : and I the next day under- 
stood what he meant by “just the thing,” when 
I found that he delivered from the pulpit, those 
prayers which he learned from me. This I 
was pleased with, as it was an acknowledgment 
of my superior excellence. I afterwards learn- 
ed that, although educated from childhood in the 
congregational church, he “ never could be 
thoroughly reconciled to the practice of public 
extempore praying and preaching, which he 
look upon as the great engines of enthusiasm. 
When at college, he had conceived an aversion 
to extempore prayers, by observing the use that 
was made of them there, and the tendency of 
this practice to promote self-conceit and spirit- 
ual pride.”* While I remained with him, “ he 

* Chandler’s Life of Dr. Johnson, first President of 
King’s College, New York, p. 18. 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


31 


went on in the discharge of parochial duties, 
not appearing to vary from the customs of the 
country. As to his prayers, he commonly made 
use of forms, which he provided for himself in the 
best manner he could, and chiefly out of the 
Liturgy.”’^ 

Soon after I became an inmate of his study, 
his reading was chiefly the works of standard 
Episcopal divines, especially the writers on 
ecclesiastical polity, and on the doctrines and 
ministry of the church. He soon began to enter- 
tain doubts of the validity of his ordination ; and 
after some months of patient persevering study, 
with many fervent prayers for the divine guid- 
ance, he resolved to apply for orders in the 
Episcopal church. It was painful, indeed, to 
leave the church of his fathers ; the people, too, 
to whom he was bound by so many endearing 
ties, and whom he had reason to believe were 
devotedly attached to him, and to go an entire 
stranger into another fold ; but duty prompted 
him to this course ; and duty, with him, was 
paramount to every selfish consideration. — 

* Chandler’s Life of Dr. Johnson, p. 22. 




32 


THE HISTORY OF A 


“ When Mr. J. took leave of his people, 

whom he greatly loved, he affectionately told 
them that ilf they could see reason to conform 
to the Episcopal church, he would never leave 
them ; but after obtaining such ordination as he 
thought to be necessary, that he would return to 
them again in the character of their minister. — 
But with such an offer they were unable to 
comply, notwithstanding their esteem for him. — 
He expostulated with them, and urged them 
seriously to consider the matter. Among other 
things he said, that they had hitherto professed 
to admire his preaching, and especially his 
prayers. And, indeed, his prayers were so 
much admired by people in general, that it was 
common for persons belonging to the neighbour- 
ing parishes to come to his church, on purpose 
to hear them. Now he told them that his in-/ 
structions and prayers had all along been taken 
from the Episcopal church ; and that they ought 
to be esteemed as much, after this circumstance 
was known, asjhey had been before. This decla- 
ration greatly surprised them ; however, no more 
than four or five of them could then be recon- 
ciled to receive him in the orders of the church. 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


33 


After a few days, therefore, he took his final 
leave of them.”^ Before leaving home, to 
obtain Episcopal ordination, my master present- 
ed me to a friend of his, a churchman, who was 
about removing with his family into the western 
part of the state of New York. My new master, 
a pious man, zealously attached to the church of 
his ancestors, and regarding me, next to his 
Bible, as his richest treasure, shortly afterwards 
emigrated to those then western wilds, taking 
me with several of my companions along with 
him. As this is a most important period of my 
history I may be permitted to dwell more 
minutely upon it. 


* Chandler’s Life of Dr. Johnson, p. 32. 


34 


THE HISTORY OF A 


i. 

I 

CHAPTER IV. 

The Prayer Book travels to Western New York. — An 
Emigrant’s Life. — A Union Church. — Lay Reading. 

It was a bright sunny morning in spring, 

when my master, Mr. M , with his family, 

reached the spot where he intended settling, and 
where he expected to spend the, remainder of his 
days. The trees had just put forth their leaves, 
and stood arrayed in their richest green ; the 
squirrel leaped from branch to branch, as if 
delighted with his liberty; the redbreast, on the 
topmost bough of some lofty elm, poured forth 
his sweet and mellow notes ; all around the I 
woods seemed instinct with life, and universal j 
nature appeared to rejoice and sing. Yet, not- I 
withstanding this gay and lively scene which i 
surrounded them, I thought my master and I 
mistress looked sad, though they strove to cheer ] 
each other with the prospect of future happiness. 
And well might they feel sorrowful ; for they 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


35 


had been compelled by pecuniary losses to leave 
the home of their infancy, with all its cherished 
endearments, their relatives and friends, the joys 
of social intercourse, which constituted the chief 
charm of life, the church in which they had been 
baptized and nurtured, and where they had often 
partaken of the bread of life; these, together 
with those thousand comforts and advantages to 
be found in most of our New England towns, 
they had left behind, to go into a wilderness of 
woods, where there were no friends to cheer 
them in the loneliness of their dreary solitude, 
and where the “ sound of the church-going bell” 
was never heard. 

The place to which Mr. M came was a 

tract of new land, purchased in better days, but 
was now all that remained to him of a once ample 
fortune. A small house, built of logs, had been 
put up previous to his arrival; and here he 
hoped, by patient and persevering industry, if 
his health was spared, to provide a competency 
for his family. He foresaw that it required 
many painful sacrifices, and much habitual self- 
denial, to fix himself down on such a spot for 
life; yet he had “learned,” with the Apostle, 


36 


THE HISTORY OF A 


1 

“ in whatsoever state he was, therewith to be i 
content.” ’ | 

I shall pass rapidly over the first few years of 
their residence in this place. Their time was ! 
occupied during the day, as that of all new set- j 
tiers usually is, my master cutting down the I 
trees, and clearing and cultivating the land ; my | 
mistress attending to the domestic duties within ' 
doors, like the “ virtuous woman” commended | 
by Solomon, “seeking wool and flax, and I 
working willingly with her hands*” and “ look- - 
ing well to the ways of her household.”* In | 

the evening Mr. M read some instructive i 

book aloud, or heard the lessons of the children, I 
who, having no school to attend, were educated, j 
as well as circumstances would permit, under 
the immediate tuition of their parents. Every j 
morning and evening the whole family were 
assembled for domestic worship ; when my j 
master usually read a chapter in the Bible, and 
then the form of prayer for families, or some of i 
the collects ; for he considered it the duty of 
every Christian, to begin each day with prayer 


• Prov. xxxi. 13. 27. 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


37 


to Almighty God for his blessing and protection 
through the day, and to end it with thanksgiving 
for mercies received, and supplications for guar- 
dianship, through the dangers of the night, by 
Him who “neither slumbers nor sleeps.” On 
Sundays, he always read the regular morning 
and evening prayers, together with the appointed 
lessons, and a sermon : the rest of the day was 
given to self-examination and private devotion, 
to innocent and cheerful conversation, and to the 
religious instruction of his family. 

Thus passed the first few years of their resi- 
dence in this new country ; yet each season saw 
great changes and improvements making around 
them. Several families of emigrants moved in, 
and these were followed by others, in rapid 
succession, so that in three or four years there was 
quite a hamlet ; and a small public building had 
been erected, which served as school-house and 
Church, and was always occupied for the latter 
purpose, whenever a missionary of any denomi- 
nation happened to travel that way. During 
this period, my master, who was a man of 
exemplary piety, was often sent for to pray by 
the bed-side of the sick and dying, and some- 
4 


38 


THE HISTORY OF A 


times to read the burial service over the graves , 
of the departed ; on vi^hich occasions I was | 
always his companion. 

When my master had been about five years 1 
in this new situation, the place put on quite the 
appearance of a flourishing village. He had 
exchanged his log house for one of more com- 
fortable dimensions, and of a more respectable 
exterior, and all his worldly affairs seemed to be 
going on as prosperously as lie could wish. 

But there was one subject, which weighed 
heavily upon his mind, and which was the 
almost constant theme of conversation with his 
wife when they were alone, it was the Church 
of his fathers. How to get it planted in that 
western land was now his greatest solicitude. — 
Often have I seen the big tear roll down his 
cheek, while talking with his family of those 
blissful days, when they could go “ to the house 
of God in company and then as he contrast- 
ed those blessed privileges which they once 
enjoyed, with their present destitution of the 
sacred ordinances, he would exclaim, in the 
fervent language of the Psalmist, “ O how amia- 
ble are thy dwellings, thou Lord of Hosts ! — 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


39 


My soul hath a desire and longing to enter into 
the courts of the Lord.” If I forget thee, O 
Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cun- 
ning ; yea, if I prefer not Jerusalem above my 
chief joy.” 

For five long years he had not seen an Epis- 
copal clergyman ; and his views of the sacred 
office would not permit him to receive the com- 
munion from persons not Episcopally ordained ; 
although he had great respect for their piety and 
zeal, and often-times derived much benefit from 
their religious instruction. Frequently, when a 
Methodist, or Presbyterian, or Baptist minister 
had preached in the village school-house, he had 
been to hear him ; but to stand and hear a prayer 
was not, to him, like praying from the Liturgy ; 
and he always came home, more anxious than 
ever to introduce among his neighbours that 
pure, scriptural and rational formulary, to which 
he had been accustomed from earliest childhood. 

He saw that other denominations were rapidly 
gaining ground, while nothing had been done for 
that of his own. Already a subscription was in 
circulation for building a “ Union” church, as it 
is called, to accommodate all sects ; but when it 


40 


THE HISTORY OF A 


was presented to Mr. M , he declined giving 

any thing, candidly saying that he did not ap- ' 
prove this amalgamating system, which, how- 
ever pure the motives of those with .whom the ’ 
plan originated, far from producing quietness, j 
peace, and love, among all Christian people, I 
too often ended in “ confusion and every evil j 
work.” He said he had often seen the experi- | 
ment tried, but had never known it to succeed 
well ; and that, for his part, he would much j 
rather each denomination would build a house 
of worship for themselves, though it were of j 
logs, than to unite in erecting the most costly 
edifice, and afterwards dispute about the right of 
occupancy. He further told them, that in the 
present instance he must decline subscribing to 
their “ Union” church on another ground.— 
Although he could bid “ God speed” to every 
proper effort to extend the kingdom of the Re- 
deemer, yet his conscientious preference was for 
the Episcopal church, and he must reserve all his 
means to introduce and sustain that, which he 
hoped soon to see established there. I was with 
my master at this time, for he generally carried 
me in his pocket, and I listened with pleasure to 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


41 


these remarks because they so exactly met my 
own views. Although he was accused of main- 
taining narrow notions, and of being destitute of 
that liberality which it is so much the fashion of 
the present age to extol, he paid no attention to 
these reproaches, but continued inflexible to his 
purpose. The same evening I saw he looked 
more thoughtful than usual, and when the family 
had retired to rest I heard him say to Mrs. 

M , whom he always consulted in cases of 

difficulty, “ Harriet, my dear, they are about 
building a meeting-house in town for the accom- 
modation of all denominations, and I have de- 
clined contributing, as I have no doubt it will 
cause serious disturbances in our little village. I 
should like to see each denomination of Chris- 
tians have a house of worship of its own ; for I 
believe charity would thereby be best preserved, 
and pure religion best promoted. As far as my 
experience goes, there is always most harmony 
and Christian love, when those who differ in 
religious opinions keep perfectly distinct ; and 
each sect manages its own religious affairs in its 
own way. We are too few and too poor to erect 
a building for ourselves. But I have a plan in 

4 * 


42 


THE HISTORY OF A 



my head, which I hope you will approve. I 
will have a church in my own house. There 
are now several Episcopal families within a few 
miles of us, and one or two in the village, all of I 
whom will gladly unite with us ; and we will j 
meet every Sunday, when I will read the service 
and a sermon. That large unfinished room up 
stairs will probably hold more persons than we j 
can ever collect. But who can tell what good | 
may grow out of this small beginning, with the j 
divine blessing upon our efforts ? It will not, I ! 
know, be so pleasant to meet in this way, as to i 
have a church and minister, such as we left in i 
New England; but we can plead the example I 
of those primitive Christians who assembled ‘ in , 
an upper room, where prayer was wont to be I 
made.’ And we have, moreover, the blessed 
promise of our Redeemer, ‘ Where two or three 
are gathered together in my name, there am I in 
the midst of them.’ 

Mrs. M was delighted with the plan ; and 

the next morning my master mounted his horse, 
and rode round to see the few families of Church 


* Matt, xviii. 20. 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


43 


people in his neighbourhood, all of whom ex- 
pressed pleasure at his proposals, and agreed to 
meet at his house every Sunday, when circum- 
stances would permit. 


CHAPTER V. 

Lay Reading continued. — Religious dissensions among 
the various sects. — Accessions to the Church. 

Sunday came — a bright cloudless day in 
autumn — and at the appointed hour the few 
Episcopalians, who had been apprized of the 
arrangement, “ were with one accord in one 
place.” About twenty persons, besides my 
master’s family, assembled in the large “ upper 
room,” bringing their Prayer Books with them 
and uniting in the service with the greatest ap- 
parent devotion. Mr. M read the morning 

prayers, together with the lessons and a sermon : 
he however omitted the Absolution and Benedic- 
tion, which he rightly thought none but a clergy- 


44 


THE HISTORY OF A 


man was authorized to pronounce. After an 
intermission of an hour they again met, and the 
evening service and a sermon were read ; the 
little flock then separated, much pleased and 
profited with the exercises of the day. This 
practice continued many months without inter- 
ruption : the same little company being gathered 
together, and now and then some of their more 
liberal-minded neighbours would join them. In 
the mean time the meeting-house was finished 
and occupied every Sunday alternately, by 
each of the different sects who had united in 
building it. Nothing happened to disturb the 
harmony of the village during the first year. — 
Those who met at my master’s house on a Sun- 
day, were looked upon as rather cold formalists 
in religion ; but as no persons were more exem- 
plary in their lives, more honest and upright in 
their dealings, more kind and charitable to the 
poor, or more ready and cheerful in discharging 
all the social duties, they were suffered to go on 
quietly worshipping God in their own way.-^ 
But at the commencement of the second year 
disputes arose respecting the meeting-house ; 
the various parties could not agree about the 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 4i 

arrangement of their services, each party prose- 
cuted its own claims with intemperate \varmth ; 
the bitterness of controversy extended into the 
social circle, separated families, and alienated 
the hearts of friends ; but the result was, as 
might have been foreseen, the majority ruled, 
and the strongest party took the whole. ‘ 

He who knoweth how to “bring good out of 
evil,” overruled these events so as to increase 
and strengthen that little band of faithful worship- 
pers, who, amidst the turmoils and commotions 
around them, still pursued the even tenor of their 
way. Many of the most reflecting, sober-mind- 
ed, and pious men quietly withdrew, and join- 
ed the little company at Mr. M ’s house. — 

At first they disliked the forms, so new and 
strange to them ; but any thing seemed prefer- 
able to that scene of confusion and misrule 
which they had just left. They confessed that 
in the language of the Liturgy they could find 
nothing objectionable, for it was mostly compos- 
ed in the very words of Scripture; and the 
church, little as they knew of it, came strongly 
recommended by its uniformly steady, but un- 
ostentatious course, and the exemplary lives of 


46 


THE HISTORY OF A 


those who were attached to her communion. — ' 
They saw in it an ark of security and rest, “ a i 
city at unity in itself,” where they could enter | 
in and be safe from the troubles and dissensions, | 
which, to the great grief of every pious mind, 
were destroying and rending asunder their own 
denominations. But they were sensible men, 
unwilling to take any thing upon trust, much | 
less would they support any religious institutions, 
which were not clearly sanctioned by the word 
of God. Knowing that the Episcopal Church 
laid high claims to an apostolic ministry, and to , 
apostolic usages, they set themselves to examine i 
the justness of her pretensions; and, like the i 
“ noble” Bereans, they “ searched the Scrip- 
tures daily, whether these things were so.” They | 
came to the investigation with honest intentions, | 
and minds open to conviction ; and the result of 
their inquiries was, a firm conviction that the i 
Church was scriptural in her doctrines, apostolic i 
in her ministry, and pure and primitive in her 1 
worship. They then yielded all their powers, | 
and put forth all their efforts, to maintain and j 
defend her cause. The acquisition of such men 
was a matter of much joy to my dear master, 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


47 


and the more gratifying, because so unexpected ; 
neither he nor his associates ever having made 
undue exertions to gain proselytes. “ He blessed 
God, and took courage,” from this accession to 
their strength. He now hoped, at no distant day, 
to see the Church of his fathers firmly planted 
in that place, “ taking root downward, and bear- 
ing fruit upwards,” and spreading forth boughs 
like a goodly tree, with “leaves for the healing 
of the nations.” 


CHAPTER VI. 

Arrival o%an Episcopal Minister. — Father N , the 

Missionary. — Divine Service. — Baptism. — The Sermon. 
— Holy Communion. 

About the time that the church began to as- 
sume a more flourishing appearance, as related 
in the last chapter, an event occurred which 
seemed to infuse new life into its members and 
gave additional impulse to their efforts. This 


48 


THE HISTORY OF A 


was the arrival of an Episcopal minister, the : 
first who had ever visited that part of the country. ! 

The Rev. Mr. N , with the true spirit of a ; 

Gospel Missionary, had gone forth from his na- ‘ 
tive state “ to seek Christ’s sheep which were 
scattered abroad with a determination, as he 
said, not to “ build on another man’s founda- 
tion and Providence directed his steps to “ the ( 
waste places” in our western land. He was j 
then in the prime of life, meek, humble and I 
pious ; possessing all the most important requi- 
sites for a useful missionary of the cross, in our 
new settlements. Wherever he came it might 
be truly said, “ the wilderness and solitary 
places were glad for him,” for he was a faithful 
labourer in his Master’s vineyard. His active 
and useful life was prolonged, and he lived to 
behold the blessed fruits of his patient \nd per- 
severing toil. The “ bread which he cast upon 
the waters was found after many days;” the 
seed which he sowed with industry and care, 
blessed by divine grace, yielded an abundant 
harvest ; he even lived to see “ a little one be- 
come a thousand, and a small one a strong 
nation.” His age, his piety, his zeal, and above 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


49 


all his untiring devotion to the missionary cause, 
for almost forty years, gained for him the well- 

earned title of “the venerable father N 

This faithful herald of the cross has now gone 
to his reward. His character and services are 
thus graphically portrayed by the. Bishop of 
New York, in his annual address to his diocese. 
“ The venerable Daniel Nash, for nearly forty 
years a faithful missionary in the counties of 
Otsego and Chenango, was about four months 
since, (1836,) taken to his rest. He received 
Deacon’s orders from the first Bishop of this 
diocese, and went immediately to the extensive 
field of labour in which with a perseverance 
and fidelity, wherein he set to his young breth- 
ren a most worthy example, he continued to the 
last. The face of the country, the state of 
society, the congregations which he served, all 
underwent great changes ; but still the good 
man was there, faithful to his post, true to his 
obligations, and eminently useful in his labours. 
The young loved him, the mature confided in him, 
the aged sought in his counsels and example, 
right guidance in the short remaider of their 
pilgrimage. Parish after parish was built up on 
5 


50 


THE HISTORY OF A 


foundations laid by him. Younger brethren 
came in to relieve him of the more immediate 
charge ; but still the good old man was there, 
labouring to the last among them ; and long 
after physical ability forbade very frequent ^ 
public ministrations, he would go from house 
to house, gathering the inmates around the do- | 
mestic altar ; giving great heed to that important - 
branch of pastoral duty, which he always loved, 
and in which he was eminently successful, cate- , 
chising the children ; and having some word of ' 
warning, encouragement, reproof, consolation, j 
or edification, as each had need. It was so 
ordered in the course of Providence, that I was, ' 
soon after his decease, in the district of country 
which had so long been the scene of his faithful ' 
labours ; and truly gratified was I to witness } 
that best of testimonies to the virtues of the man, 
the Christian, and the pastor, which was found 
in the full hearts and the tender and venerated * 
expressions of the multitudes who, to use the 
affectionate epithet with which, for years, they 
had delighted to know him, had been bereft 
of good old father Nash.”* 

* An affectionate tribute was recently paid to the 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


51 


But to return to my story ; when Mr. N 

visited us, there was a general rejoicing among 
the Episcopalians, and preparations were im- 
mediately made for his preaching and adminis- 
tering the sacraments on the following day, 

memory of this good man, by the congregation of which 
he first had the pastoral care : as the following notice from 
a Church periodical will show : — 

“Father Nash. — This venerable minister of God 
was not gathered unto his people at the time of his death, 
owing to some circumstances beyond the control of his 
friends ; though it was his often-expressed wish , before he 
died, that his remains might moulder among those to 
whom he had ministered in life, and with those genera- 
tions to whose families he had offered the rites and con- 
solations of the church. This strong desire of their be- 
loved minister was borne in mind by the members of the 
different churches in the county, and on Wednesday, 
the 31st ult. (Oct. 1838,) his remains, together with those 
of his wife and an infant child, were transported with 
devout solemnity, to the burial-ground of Christ Church, 
Cooperstown, Otsego county, New York, and re-interred 
under a beautiful pine, in one grave. It is the intention 
of the Episcopalians of the county, to place a tablet in- 
scribed to ‘ Father Nash,’ in the church of which he 
was the first rector, and to raise a decent monument 
over his grave.” 


52 


THE AiSTORY of A 


which was Sunday. As the room in which they ' 
had usually met, at my master’s house, was ,l 
barely large enough to accommodate those who ;i 
worshipped there, and was rather inconvenient '! 
on other accounts, it w’as thought best to procure ! 
the school-house on this occasion. 

Long before the hour appointed for divine i- 
service, the little building was crowded, and 
numbers went away for want of room. Some of 
these were doubtless attracted by mere curiosity to 
see the performance of religious ceremonies in a 
manner so new and strange ; but I have reason 
to believe that many who came with strong pre- 
judices against the Church, returned home favour- 
ably impressed with the beauty and solemnity of 
her excellent formularies. The whole scene, to 
those more immediately interested in them, was 
exceedingly affecting. Many shed tears of joy ; 
and I heard one venerable old man say, as he 
pressed the hand of the clergyman when coming 
out of the house, that this w'as the happiest day 
of his life. To me the services never appeared 
half so interesting. The minister read the 
prayers in a clear, distinct, and impressive tone 
of voice, and with great seriousness of manner. 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


53 


as if he felt all that he uttered. When the re- 
sponses were made, they seemed the fervent 
and pious ejaculations of Christian hearts, audi- 
bly poured forth as from one mouth. 

At the close of the second lesson, several 
parents came forward with their little ones, to 
present them for the holy ordinance of Baptism ; 
and it was a moving sight to behold the au- 
thorized “ ambassador of Christ” taking these 
young lambs of the flock, and after the example 
of his Divine Master, “ embracing them in his 
arms, laying his hands upon them and blessing 
them,” and “ baptizing them in the adorable 
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost;” and then signing them with the 
blessed sign of the Cross, as a token of their 
being “faithful soldiers and servants,” who 
should never be afraid nor ashamed, to “ fight 
manfully under the banner” of the Great Cap- 
tain of their salvation. The solemn charge 
which he addressed to the sponsors, must have 
thrilled through their hearts. I looked around 
to see what effect this part of the service had on 
those persons who had never before witnessed 
it, and I thought I saw a tear steal down the 
5 * 


64 


THE HISTORY OF A 


cheeks of several who stood near me ; probably | 
at the recollection of their own baptismal engage- || 
ments, and of the time when their pious parents j' 
brought them, in unconscious infancy, to the j 
sacred font. Nor was it strange that they should , 
weep at the remembrance of their own violated ' 
vows, when the minister pronounced those | 
closing words: “Ye must take care that these ■ 
children may be virtuously brought up, to lead a | 
godly and a Christian life ; remembering always | 
that Baptism doth represent unto us our profes- ' 
sion; which is to follow the example of our i 
Saviour Christ, and to be made like unto Him ; I 
that as he died and rose again for us, so should 1 
we, who are baptized, die from sin, and rise 
again unto righteousness ; continually mortifying | 
all our evil and corrupt affections, and daily pro- j 
ceeding in all virtue and godliness of living.” 

The sermon was excellently well suited to i 
the time and place ; it was from those comforting I 
words of our Saviour, “ Fear not, little flock.”* t 
The preacher spoke of the many discourage- i 
ments and difficulties which must always attend ! 


* Luke xii. 32. 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


55 


the introduction of a new manner of worship, so 
unlike as theirs was, to that of any of the sects 
around them. The prepossessions of men in 
favour of their own opinions, especially in mat- 
ters of religion, he told them, were deep-rooted 
and strong ; and when erroneous, it required 
patient and persevering industry, aided by much 
mildness and prudence to overcome them. — 
“Other denominations,” he continued, “are 
accustomed to extempore prayer, and many of 
them think it sinful to pray by a book. They 
have been taught, too, to regard Episcopa- 
lians as mere formalists. Let us pity their 
prejudices, and endeavour to remove them, in 
the spirit of.christian charity ; not forgetting that, 
although we differ on some essential points of 
doctrine and worship, yet we are all brethren in 
Christ Jesus ; and we should treat them with 
courtesy and kindness, as those whom we hope 
to meet one day in that temple above, where all 
shall worship Jehovah with one heart and one 
mouth. Remember that the most effectual 
method of recommending and enforcing one’s 
own peculiar views, is by holy example. Let 
the fruits of your religion be seen in your lives, 

i 


56 


THE HISTORY OF A 


and they will weigh more than volumes of argu- 
ment. A blameless life will always silence ' 
gainsayers ; and by degrees they will acknowl- 
edge that that form of worship cannot be so odious i 
as they at first thought, when its fruits are alto- 
gether lovely. It was,” he continued, “the advice 
of an inspired Apostle to some of the first Chris- 
tian converts, and well worthy our serious at- 
tention, ‘ Be ready always to give an answer to 
every man that asketh you a reason of the hope 
that is in you but let it be with ‘ meekness’ ' 
and candour, not in the spirit of bitterness and 
reproach. And you will ever bear in mind 
what the same Apostle adds : ‘ Whereas they 
speak evil of you, as of evil-doers, they may be 
ashamed that falsely accuse your good conver- 
sation in Christ.’* If we are blest with more or ' 
better privileges than some other Christians, we 
are bound to excel them as much in all virtue | 
and godliness of living.” 

After many such pious admonitions, and - 
earnest exhortations to cultivate holiness of heart 
and life, and to “ follow peace with all men,” ^ 


• 1 Peter iii. 16. 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


57 


he encouraged them to persevere in their lauda- 
ble endeavours to establish a Church of their 
own, by showing how the greatest success had, 
in numerous instances, attended beginnings as 
small as these, and therefore we ought not' to 
“despise the day of small things.” “Indeed, 
the time was,” he said, “ when few, very few 
— only twelve—constituted the whole Christian 
Church ; and it was to them the Divine founder 
of our religion addressed those cheering words 
of our text, ‘ Fear not, little flock.’ And even 
after his resurrection and ascension, the number 
of the disciples were still so few, that ‘ they 
were all with one accord in one place,’* and 
that probably, a small room in some private 
house. Yet from this small beginning, ‘so 
mightily grew the word of God and prevailed,’ 
that in a very short time the whole world was 
filled with Christ’s doctrine. This ‘ grain of 
mustard seed,’ grew to be a mighty tree, and 
spread its branches far and wide. Doubt not, 
therefore,” was his concluding exhortation, 
“ that God favourably receiveth this work of 


Acts ii. 1. 


58 


THE HISTORY OF A 


yours, and will bestow upon it his blessing. — 
Be careful to build only on that ‘ sure founda- 
tion,’ the Rock of Ages, ‘ Jesus Christ, and him 
crucified;’ for ‘other foundation can no man 
lay, than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.’ 

Immediately after the sermon, the holy com- 
munion was administered. Eight or ten per- [■ 
sons, some of whom had not enjoyed this privi- 
lege for many long years, “ drew near in faith,” • 
as I trust, and took “that holy Sacrament to 1 
their comfort.” It was to them like being fed ' 
with manna in the wilderness. Some of them 
could not refrain from sobbing aloud, when they , 
received the bread and wine, the precious 
pledges of a dying Saviour’s love. It brought 
back a tide of pleasing and painful recollections : 
of times when they used to kneel, in former years, , 
with loved friends, around the holy altar; and it 
carried forward their thoughts to the time when, , 
through the infinite mercies of their Redeemer, 
they hoped to sit down with the same beloved i 
friends, at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. — | 
As these thoughts came over them, with a i 


• 1 Cor. iii. 11. 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


59 


mixture of sadness and of joy, their full hearts 
gushed forth in tears. Oh, it is luxury to weep, 
when the scenes of departed years, with ten 
thousand bright and glowing pictures of social 
love and domestic happiness, sweep across the 
memory, and we seem to be again surrounded 

“ By those fair forms, alas ! now seen no more ; 

Lov’d, and still lov’d ; not dead, but gone before !” 


CHAPTER VII. 

Church built. — Visit of another Missionary, the Rev. D. 
Phelps. — His character. — Church Consecrated. — Con- 
firmation. 

The Rev. Mr. N remained at my master’s 

house several days, and all that lime was diligent* 
ly employed in making preparations for organiz- 
ing a Church, and in ascertaining how much mo- 
ney could be obtained towards erecting a suitable 
house of worship. Providence smiled upon 
their endeavours, and disposed the hearts of the 
few Episcopalians to give liberally, each one in 
proportion to the means with which God had 


60 


THE HISTORY OF A 


blessed him. The subscription soon amounted 
to several hundred dollars ; which, together with 
some promised assistance from the city of New 
York, enabled them to commence their building 
the following spring. All things went on pros- 
perously, and with great harmony ; men’s hands 
were strengthened for the work ; in less than one 
year after “ the foundations of the house were 
laid,” the superstructure was completed and 
ready for consecration. It was a neat and com- 
modious edifice, built wfith the strictest economy, 
but with every convenience about the altar, desk, 
and pews, so that in the public worship of Je- 
hovah, “ all things might be done decently and 
in order.” When finished, those who were 
concerned in building it, had the satisfaction of 
knowing that it was all paid for ; there was no 
burdensome debt pressing upon them, and par- 
alyzing all further exertions. In due time, they 
hoped to procure a bell and organ; but they 
were content to do without these for a few years, 
that they might be better enabled to contribute 
towards the support of a minister. 

While the new church was in progress, our 
little congregation were again cheered and en- 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


61 


couraged by a visit from another devoted mis- 
sionary, the Rev. Davenport Phelps ; a man 
whose name cannot be pronounced but with the 
sincerest respect and affection. He, too, like 

the venerable father N , had travelled 

through the western land, with the self-denying 
spirit of a primitive missionary ; “ planting 
churches wherever he came.” In two or three 
years after his visit to our village, this good man 
was called to receive the reward promised to those 
who turn many to righteousness.” He died 
at Geneva, June 27, 1813 ; and I cannot refrain 
from quoting the just tribute of respect paid to 
his memory by his beloved Diocesan, at the 
next annual convention after Mr. P.’s death. 
“In noticing the changes in the diocese, you 
have doubtless already anticipated me, in the 
painful remark, that we no longer perceive in 
his place in this convention our venerable brother, 
the Rev^ Davenport Phelps. He has gone to 
i his rest. For many years he has been employ- 
! ed as a missionary in the western parts of the 
j state. Having visited the extensive district in 
[ which he officiated, I am able to bear testimony 
I to thp high estimation in which he was held for 


62 


THE HISTORY OF A 


his pious and exemplary character, and for the | 
fidelity and prudent zeal with which he dis- 1 
charged his arduous and laborious duties. He is I 
justly revered as the founder of the congregations I 
in the most western counties of the state, whom t 
he attached, not merely to his personal ministra- i 
tions, but to the doctriue, the ministry, and 
Liturgy of our Church. Indeed it was highly ; 
gratifying to me to observe, in the congregations 
where he officiated, and in others, in the infant | 
settlements of the state, which are still cherished * 
by ministers equally faithful, the devotion and i 
the decency with which the people performed j 
their part of the public service. It is an evidence | 
that whatever prejudices our Liturgy may have ; 
at first to encounter among those who are unac- I 
quainted with it, a minister who will be diligent j 
in explaining it, and enforcing its excellencies, 
and who, in obedience to his ordination vows, 
will be faithful and devout in the use of it, will ' 
finally succeed, by the divine blessing, in leading ' 
many to value it as their best help in the exer- 
cises of devotion, and next to the Bible, their 
best guide to heaven.” 

Some months before the church was finished. 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


63 


the congregation were blessed by the faithful 
ministrations of a pious young clergyman, in 
deacon’s orders, who divided his time equally 
between four parishes, fifteen or twenty miles 
apart. Unfrequent as were his services in our 
village, they were a great help in the infancy of 
our undertaking. But as soon as the building 
I was completed, and it was understood that the 
I Bishop would come on in a few weeks and con- 
secrate it, and administer confirmation at the 
same time, Mr. R., the missionary, thought it 
his duty to bestow more than ordinary attention 
on this part of his charge. He accordingly 
came to board with my master, that he might 
give the necessary instructions to the young, to 
prepare them for the holy rite of confirmation ; 
and, by a course of lectures on the duties and 
privileges of the baptismal covenant, might en- 
lighten those who had not been educated in the 
Church, and knew little or nothing of its forms 
and ordinances. 

The wished-for day at length arrived ; and a 
bright and happy day it was.' Multitudes 
flocked in from the neighbouring towns, to wit- 
ness the ceremonies. Our little church was full 


64 


THE HISTORY OF A 


to overflowing. The Bishop, a venerable man 
of more than three score years, was received i 
at the entrance of the church by the Church- | 
wardens and Vestrymen ; and as they proceeded | 
up the aisle, they repeated, alternately, the 24th j 
Psalm, as appointed in that most excellent and ap- j 
propriate “ Form of Consecration of a Church,” j 
prescribed in the Liturgy. Never can I forget ; 
the appearance of that venerable and holy man, ! 
while performing the various and interesting 1 
services of the day. About twenty young * 
persons, and eight or ten of an advanced age, , 
presented themselves for confirmation. Every | 
person in the house evinced an absorbing interest | 
in this solemn ceremony. There, around the 
holy altar, stood some of the brightest and love- j 
liest of our village circle, in all the buoyancy of j 
youth and health, ready to assume the vows of 
Baptism, and to devote themselves anew to their 1 
God and Saviour. It was a joyful sight to 1 
behold these young disciples consecrating the i 
best of their days, the first fruits of their years, | 
to Him whose “service is perfect freedom.” * 
And many a tear glistened in the parent’s eye, 
as he saw his children bending before the aged 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


65 


Bishop, and beheld the man of God lay his 
hands upon the head of his beloved ones, and 
heard him invoke the choicest of heaven’s bles- 
sings, in those impressive words, “ Defend, O 
Lord, these thy servants, with thy heavenly 
grace ; that they may continue thine for ever, 
and daily increase in thy Holy Spirit more and 
! more, until they come unto thy everlasting 
i kingdom.” I have witnessed many such scenes 
since, but those first impressions are never to be 
effaced. To see a church, under every possible 
! difficulty and discouragement, planted in the 
wilderness, taking root, and springing up and 
i flourishing; to behold a neat and commodious 
1 edifice, with its spire pointing towards heaven, 
consecrated on the spot where, a few years 
before, no traces of civilization could be found, 
and where mighty forest trees had for centuries 
spread their giant arms to the sky ; to see the 
sacred ordinances administered, and to hear the 
glad tidings of salvation proclaimed in that church 
for the first time ; these are scenes affecting 
beyond description to a pious mind. None but 
those who have witnessed them can have any 
idea of their interest, and all who have seen them 
6 * 


66 


THE HISTORY OF A 


will agree with me, .that they are more easily 
felt than expressed.- • ’ 

Bishop M left us the next morning, , 

having engagements to fulfil in other parts of his ' 
extensive diocese. My master appeared perfect- 
ly happy, having accomplished the object which 
had long been nearest and dearest to his heart : 
and when he retired to rest that night, I heard 
him repeat aloud — “ Lord, now lettest thou thy 
servant depart in peace.” 


CHAPTER VIII. 

Visit of the Rev. Mr. P . His kindness to Children. 

The Prayer Book resumes its travels with him Joy 

at Mr. P ’s return. — Description of his residence. — 

He visits his parishioners. — Their affection for him. 

A FEW weeks after the consecration of our 
little church, I was separated from my beloved 
master, and I have never had the happiness of 
seeing him again. One Saturday evening a 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


67 


clergyman came to his house, and remained with 
him over Sunday. This gentleman had been 
settled several years in the southern part of Ohio, 
and was now on his return to his family and 
parish. My master’s family were all delighted 
with him ; and the children, especially, were 
soon won by his affectionate and cheerful man- 
ners. There was a playfulness in his conver- 
sation with them, and an engaging smile on his 
lips, well suited to the simplicity and purity of 
infant minds, and which never fail to attract their 
attention. He had not been many hours in the 
house, before each child brought out its store 
I of books and pictures to show to the kind-heart- 
j ed man, and all were anxious to inform him 
^ where they read, and how much they could 
d repeat of the catechism, with various other 
\ acquirements for which children are pleased to 
<1 be noticed. The stranger listened to their in- 
nocent prattle, asked them many questions 
: about their studies, heard them repeat the Creed 
and Lord’s Prayer, and seemed highly gratified 
with their confidence and affection, so artlessly 
j expressed, and which his own affability and 
kindness had drawn forth. 


68 the history of a 



discern at a glance, where their little attentions 
are likely to be well received, and their young 
hearts are easily won by an approving look or a 
kindly smile. If a minister would gain the love | 
and esteem of his parishioners, he cannot do it ' 
more easily and effectually than by kindness 
and attention to their little ones; and by evincing 
at all times, especially in his parochial visits, his 
deep interest in the welfare and good conduct of 
these lambs of his flock. These reflections are 
the result of much observation of men and man- 
ners, and an intimate knowledge of those ties 
which so closely connect the family circle. 

On Sunday morning, our new guest, who 
was to officiate during the day, asked for a 
Prayer Book, that he might examine the les- 
sons; saying, that he had unfortunately left his 
at the house where he had last lodged. My 
master handed me to him, and begged he would 
accept me as a present ; being, as he observed, 
of a convenient form and size for carrying on a 
journey. He received me with many grateful 
acknowledgments : and, much as I regretted 
leaving my old master, I could not but congra- 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


69 


tulate myself for having fallen into such excel- 
lent hands. I had now a prospect of seeing 
much more of the world, and of becoming more 
thoroughly acquainted with human nature in all 
its varieties ; nor have my observations, I trust, 
been ’without profit to myself ; happy shall I be, 
if I can make them equally beneficial to others. 

My new master, the Rev. Mr. P , pro- 

ceeded on his journey westward, on Monday 
morning, taking me with him. He occasion- 
ally stopped a. part of a day and preached, 
wherever he found a vacant congregation, or a 
few scattered Episcopalians, disposed to hear 
him. On Sunday he always contrived to rest in 
some village, where his services would be ac- 
ceptable and useful. Thus he journeyed leisure- 
ly along, and it was not until two or three weeks 
after I came into his possession, that we reach- 
ed his place of residence. His wife, and two 
bright and blooming children, a boy and girl, 
met him at the door with their warm embraces, 
and assured him that all was well. Great was 
their joy at beholding him again in health and 
safety, after so long a separation ; and that same 
night many fervent thanksgivings ascended from 


70 


THE HISTORY OF A 


their grateful hearts, that parents and children j 
had been again permitted to meet around the j 
family altar, and that all their lives had been 
crowned with such distinguished mercies. 

The news of his return soon spread through 
the village, and many of his parishioners hasten- 
ed to welcome back their beloved pastor, and to 
inquire after his welfare. During his absence 
the church had been kept open every Sunday ; 
some one of the most respected and pious of the 
laymen of his congregation reading the service 
and a sermon, and thus preventing the peo- j 
pie from wandering to strange places of wor- I 
ship, as sheep without a shepherd. i 

My master’s house was delightfully situated, 
a little out from the village, on the banks of a | 
small river, which flowed into the Ohio, and not 
far from its mouth. It was an humble dwelling, 
with a neat little court-yard in front, filled with i 
many flowering shrubs, which grew luxuriantly 1 
in that mild climate. Jessamines and roses I 
bloomed beneath the windows, and the graceful i 
passion flower threw its slender tendrils along | 
the walls. The monthly flowering honeysuckle j 
crept up the pillars of a light piazza, and, when | 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


71 


the dews of evening fell, perfumed the air with 
the delicious fragrance of its blossoms. Two or 
three lofty tulip trees, with as many spreading 
maples, contributed greatly to the beauty and 
comfort of the place. When the eye rested on 
that neat little white cottage, embosomed in trees 
and shrubbery, it seemed a favorite spot for holy 
contemplation, and peacefulness, and rest. Every 
beholder must have felt a sacred cairn steal over 
him, as he gazed upon the tranquil scene. On 
the opposite side of the street stood the church; 
with its neat and well ordered grave-yard, sur- 
rounded by forest trees ; and here and there a 
rose-bush, planted by the hand of affection, 
might be seen blossoming on some grassy 
mound, a significant emblem of that beauty 
■ which fadeth like the flow^er of the field. 

The distant scenery was strikingly interesting. 
The mighty Ohio could be seen as it rolled along 
to meet the mightier Mississippi, and to mingle 
its waters with the ocean. Far off in the distance 
rose the high hills of Kentucky, and to the east of 
these, but much more distant, you could discern 
some of the loftiest peaks of the Alleghanies, 
I resting like clouds on the verge of the horizon. 


72 


THE HISTORY OF A 


The day after Mr. P ’s return, he visited | 

many of his people ; calling first on the sick, the ! 
afflicted, and the infirm, and administering con- } 
solation as their respective cases required. It I 
was a gratifying sight to witness the affection ^ 
and respect with which he was every where re- 
ceived. The dull and heavy eye and pallid j 
countenance of disease brightened up at his ap- 
proach; for at the bedside of the sick and dying 
he always appeared as a comforter and guide * 
*of souls. In the true spirit of his Divine Mas- ' 
ter, it was his delight to discourse of the price- 
less riches of redeeming love, and to direct the 
thoughts from the vain and perishable pleasures 
of earth, to that “ inheritance incorruptible, and 
undefiled, and that fadeth not away.” In the j 
dwellings of poverty he was always a welcome j 
visiter; for he had been emphatically “a father 
to the poor.” In affliction of every kind, none ! 
knew better than he how to give comfort and ' 
joy, by a proper application of the scriptural I 
promises to those who mourn and are weary | 
and heavy laden. While he endeavoured, by i 
every means in his power, to promote the spirit- j 
ual welfare of his liock, he was not unmindful j 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


73 


of their temporal wants ; following, at an humble 
distance, the blessed steps of Him who “went 
about doing good” to the bodies and souls of 
men. The poor came to him for aid in distress, 
for his hand -and heart were always open; the 
mourner came to him to be comforted, for there 
was a mildness and affectionate interest in his 
manner, soothing to the suffering heart ; and the 
young and inexperienced sought his counsel and 
advice, which he was ever ready to give with 
parental kindness. To him might be applied 
those beautiful expressions of Job, “ When the 
ear heard him, then it blessed him ; and when the 
eye saw him, it gave witness to him ; becausp 
he delivered the poor that cried, and the father- 
less, and him that had none to help him. The 
blessing of him that was ready to perish came 
upon him ; and. he caused the widow’s heart to 
sing for joy.”* 


» Jobxxix. 11—13. 


7 


74 


THE HISTORY OF A 


, 1 
4> I 

CHAPTER IX. ! 

! 

Character of Mr. P . Importance of parochial visita- 

tion. — Sunday-school instruction. — Qualifications of | 
Teachers. — Public Catechising. 

Few clergymen possessed a happier faculty | 
of making their conversation agreeable and in- ' 
structive, to all ages and ranks of people, than j 

Mr. P . He knew how to be cheerful with- : 

out levity, grave without austerity, dignified : 
without haughtiness, and humble without servili- 
ty. Like his Divine Master, he could retire ^ 
from the world for the purpose of devotion, and i 
return to its active and social duties, without 
being seduced by its temptations and snares. : 
He could “rejoice with-those who rejoice,” as ‘ 
Christ himself did at the marriage in Cana ; ' 
“ and weep with those who weep,” as our 
blessed Lord did over the grave'of Lazarus. It 
was this happy union of the loveliest Christian 
graces, which rendered his company at all times 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


75 


acceptable to the young and aged, the sorrowful 
and the rejoicing. His parishioners all looked 
upon him as tlieir best counsellor and friend, and 
loved him with almost, filial affection. 

He felt the responsibilities of his ministerial 
office, and laboured faithfully, in season and out 
of season, “to bring all such as were committed 
to his charge, unto that agreement in the faith 
and knowledge of God, and to that ripeness and 
perfectness of age in Christ, that there be no 
place left among them either for error in religion, 
or for viciousness of life.”* And to this end he 
took care, in conformity with his vows of ordi- 
nation, “ to use both public and private moni- 
tions and exhortations, as well to the sick as to 
the whole within his cure, as need should 
require and occasion should be given.” While 
he felt it his highest duty and his noblest privi- 
lege to proclaim the doctrines of the cross from 
the pulpit, on ,the Lord’s day, and to hold up 
Jesus Christ, and him crucified, as the only 
refuge for dying sinners, he also felt, that the 
impressions which were made by his preaching 


♦ Ordination service. 


76 


THE HISTORY OF A 


on Sunday, must be followed up by teaching 
from house to house during the week. 

The importance of parochial visits cannot be 
too strongly urged upon the ministers of our 
communion. No church can prosper, unless the 
pastor is acquainted with his whole flock ; and to 
know them well, he must visit them frequently 
at their homes. I have been in many parishes, 
but I never found one in a flourishing condition 
where this duty had been long neglected. A 
minister may possess all the eloquence of a Paul, 
but the work of the ministry can never prosper 
in his hands, unless, after the example of that 
great apostle, he teach both “ publicly, and from 
house to house nor even then, unless he daily 
prays for that blessing from above, without 
which Paul may plant and Apollos water in vain. 

Next to public preaching, and visiting his 
parishioners, my master thought it the most 
important of a clergyman’s duties to attend to 
the catechetical instruction of the young ; he had, 
therefore, as an aid to the fulfilment of this duty, 
established a Sunday-school, which was entirely 
under his control, and over which he maintain- 
ed a watchful care. He was frequently with 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


77 ' 


the school one part of the day, that he might 
become well acquainted with both teachers and 
scholars ; yet the duties of Sunday were such, 
that he was obliged to commit the immediate 
supervision of the school to competent laymen. 
The most intelligent and pious members of his 
congregation, who were best qualified by age 
and experience to govern and instruct the young, 
gladly lent their assistance ; and the good effects 
of their efforts were soon to be seen, in the at- 
tention and orderly conduct of the pupils, their 
respect for their teachers, their love for each 
other, and the rapid progress which, they made 
in their studies. Many of them, we trust, at- 
tained to that “knowledge which maketh wise 
unto salvation.’^ 

Mr. P was very solicitous that the teach- 

ers in his school should possess the requisite 
qualifications for their high vocation ; above all, 
that they should be truly pious. He well knew 
there were many in his parish, of a proper age, 
and character, and talents, for filling the useful 
and responsible, yet humble office of Sunday- 
school teachers ; and on these he earnestly 
pressed the importance of coming forward to 

* 7 * 


^78 


THE HISTORY OF A 


the discharge of this their bounden duty, “ not 
of constraint, but willingly.” “ Let them con- 
sent,” he said, “ to give a few hours on the 
Lord’s day, to this noblest of all charities. Let 
them consider the classes as in some measure 
under their charge during the remainder of the 
week ; and occasionally visit the homes of the 
children, especially when they neglect to attend. 
And, to insure punctual attendance on the part 
of the scholar, let the teacher himself be punc- 
tual ; let him be diligent and zealous, and he can 
hardly fail to produce a corresponding assiduity 
and interest in his pupils. Let him not be dis- 
heartened by any difficulties which he may at 
first encounter. He will find much that will 
require the exercise of patience and forbearance 
towards those stubborn, thoughtless, or perhaps 
stupid children, whom he has set himself to 
reclaim and instruct. Indeed, the brightest 
Christian graces, humility, self-denial, long-suf- 
fering, meekness, gentleness, charity, will all be 
called forth in the discharge of his voluntary 
task ; but let him bear in mind, as matter of the 
highest encouragement to patient and untiring 
perseverance, that the improvement of each and 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


79 


all of these virtues and graces, renders him more 
and more meet for the enjoyment of that blessed 
promise to be fulfilled in him, “ They that be 
Teachers,^ shall shine as the brightness of the 
firmament; and they that turn many to right- 
eousness, as the stars for ever and ever.” 

Important however as Sunday-schools are, 
as auxiliaries to the clergyman in feeding the 
lambs of his flock, my master thought they ought 
never to supersede the good old fashion of cate- 
chising the children, “ openly in the church,” 
as the rubric directs. On the afternoon of the 
first Sunday in each month, therefore, which 
was communioit Sunday, he assembled all the 
children, Sunday scholars and others, in the 
body of the church, and instructed them in the 
catechism. Most of the adult members of the 
congregation attended on these occasions, and 
seemed to derive as much pleasure and profit 
from the exercises, as the children themselves. 
Soon after he came to the parish an intelligent 
lady of his congregation told him that she had 
learned more respecting the true principles of 


Dan. xii. 3, marginal reading. 


80 


THE HISTORY OF A 


the church, from his familiar catechising, than 
from any other source. Many adults of his 
flock afterwards bore a like testimony, and en- 
couraged him to persevere in this course. 


CHAPTER X. 


A new acquaintance. — A candid inquirer after “ the old 
paths.” — The Prayer Book passes into other hands. — 
Prejudices against the church resulting from ignorance 
of her character and claims. — Episcopal Theologians. — 
Eloquent tribute of a Presbyterian Divine to Episco- 
pacy. 

One morning when my master was reading 
in his study and I was lying on the table before 
him, a young man of plain but pleasing appear- 
ance came in, and after apologizing for the inter- 
ruption, said, “If Mr. P was at leisure, he 

should be glad to have some religious conversa- 
tion -with him.” My master immediately shut 
his book, and returned it to the shelf; saying, 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


81 


with a benevolent smile, that such visits could 
never be ill-timed to a clergyman, and he should 
now be very happy to listen to him. 

The young man began, with great modesty 
and some slight embarrassment, by saying that 
he had been educated a Presbyterian by his 
parents, who were pious and exemplary mem- 
bers of that denomination ; and that, until within 
a few months, he had never had any knowledge 
of the Episcopal Church. He had recently 
married and removed to this village, where he 
and his wife had attended the worship of the 
Church a few times ; and having met with some 
small tracts explanatory of her doctrines and 
worship, he wished to become better acquainted 
with them ; and had therefore called to request 

Mr. P to put him in a way of gaining more 

information on these subjects. He said he had 
been baptized in his infancy, and had long felt it 
his duty to unite with some church, by receiving 
the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper ; but he was 
not altogether satisfied with that system in which 
he had been brought up, and therefore he never 
could bring his mind cordially to embrace it. 
He mentioned his parents with great respect. 


82 


THE HISTORY OF A 


and said he ascribed all his seriousness and piety, 
under God, to their early parental instruction 
and pious example. Of his mother, particularly, 
he spoke in the most affectionate terms, as 
having been his best earthly counsellor and 
friend in his early days. Since he had been 
separated from her he had often occasion to bless 
God for the pains she took to impress religious 
maxims on his young heart. He had no doubt, 
he said, that if the result of his inquiries should 
be a preference for the Church, and he should be 
led, from a sense of duty, to unite himself with 
her communion, it would be a source of grief to 
his beloved mother ; for he had often heard her 
speak as if she thought there could be no piety 
among Episcopalians, and that their religion was 
altogether a religion of forms. He excused his 
parent for such erroneous opinions, which he 
admitted he himself had entertained until very 
lately, by observing that she had always lived 
in a remote part of the state, far from any con- 
gregation of the Episcopal Church, with no 
means of becoming acquainted with its doctrine 
or discipline. While he lamented her preju- 
dices, he spoke of them with great tenderness, 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


83 


and said it would be a matter of regret to him 
if he should ever be obliged to differ from her 
in religious sentiments, even in points of com- 
paratively minor importance ; but he felt it his 
duty to search for the truth, and, having found 
it, to embrace it at all hazards ; because He who 
calls himself, emphatically. The Truth, hath 
said, “ He that lovelh father or mother more 
than me, is not worthy of me.”* 

My master heard him with great attention ; 
commended him for the course he was pursuing, 
and above all, for his filial resp'ect and affection ; 
which, he >said,’were the best evidence of “an 
honest and good heart,” rightly disposed to in- 
vestigate religious subjects, and suitably prepared 
for the reception of divine truth. I myself was 
so delighted with the appearance and conversa- 
tion of this young man, that I longed to become 
better acquainted with him ; and it so turned out 
that my wish was fully gratified. After answer- 
ing such questions as he was pleased to propose, 
my master gave him several books of instruction, 
which he commended to his careful persual, and 


* Matt. X. 37. 


84 


THE HISTORY OF A 


then taking me from the table he presented me 
to him, begging him to read me attentively, and 
he would there learn by the help of those other 
books, every thing he wished to know concern- 
ing the doctrine, the ministry, and the worship 
of the Church. “ After you have studied it suf- 
ficiently yourself,” said Mr. P , “ you can, 

if you please, send this Pocket Prayer Book to 
your good mother ; it may be the means of re- 
moving some of her prejudices, and give her a 
more favourable opinion of our Church. Let 
me see you as often as you can make it conveni- 
ent to call ; and may ‘ the Spirit of Truth guide 
you into all truth.’ ” The young man took his 
leave, thanking the minister for his kindness, 
and saying he should like to converse with him 
again in a few days. 

That evening, when my new master, Mr. 

L , returned home from his labour, he sat 

down to read me with great attention ; and every 
day, for some weeks, I occupied a great portion 
of his leisure hours. At night, when the busi- 
ness of the day was done, he always read aloud 
for an hour or two to his wife, either from my 
pages, or from some one of the books which 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


85 


Mr. P. had lent him ; for whatever religious 

opinions he himself might embrace, he felt it 
important that his family should agree with him. 

In a few days he repeated his visit to the 
worthy Rector, and I fortunately happened to be 
with him. We found him busy in writing, but 
he immediately laid aside his pen, and expressed 
his pleasure at seeing my young master again. 

Mr. L said he had come to return such of 

the books as he had read, and to ask the loan of 
others. “From these,” he continued, “I have 
derived much profitable instruction. They have 
indeed poured in a flood of light upon my darken- 
ed understanding. I am utterly astonished at 
my own ignorance of the Church, and am almost 
ashamed to confess it. Would you believe it 
I possible, I had thought until I read those books, 
that the number of Episcopalians was small, 

I compared with other religious denominations ; 
j and I could hardly credit the fact, even when it 
was demonstrated to me, that they constituted 
by far the greater part of the whole christigin 
world ; and that all the sects together are but a 
mere handful, in comparison with those who are 
strictly Episcopal. I also thought that' your 
8 


86 


THE HISTORY OF A 


Church had never produced many men distin- 
guished for learning or piety ; but now I see and 
lament my gross ignorance on this subject; fori 
find that in the long catalogue of great names of 
modern times, of those whose works are imperish- 
able monuments of wisdom and piety, by much the 
greater portion were Episcopal divines, and the 
English Church, I see, can boast a constellation of 
theologians, far outshining all their contempora- 
ries. And as to the theological writers in the first 
fifteen hundred years of the Christian era, there 
can be no question : if it can be proved, as I 
think it can, that the universal church was 
Episcopal, until the Reformation.” 

“You are right,” said the good Rector, his 
countenance brightening up with unusual ani- 
mation, as he spoke ; “ you are right, my young 
friend ; nor does your former ignorance at al 
surprise me. Until I was twenty years of age 
I knew as little of the Church as you did. I 
was born of pious Congregational parents, in 
New England, and was sent, when young, to a 
Calvinistic college, where I remained utterly 
ignorant of the simplest features of Episcopacy. 
Indeed, I knew nothing of them until I was 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


87 


graduated, and went to reside in a town where I 
had frequent opportunities of attending the ser- 
vices of the Church. Nor can I help looking back 
with astonishment at- my own ignorance ; for my 
opportunities of reading and information were 
much greater than yours have been. What 
most surprises me is, that I could have studied, 
while in college, the great works of Butler and 
Paley, without once thinking that the ‘ Analogy 
of Religion,’ the ‘Evidences of Christianity,* 
the ‘ Moral Philosophy,’ and ‘ Natural Theolo- 
gy,’ which were the text books there, were all 
written by divines of the English Church. You 
may, perhaps, think I must have been uncom- 
monly stupid ; but the fact was, I had never been 
inside of an Episcopal Church — I never heard 
any thing said about it, while under my father’s 
roof — at college the subject was never introduc- 
ed — and I knew no more about it than I did 
about the Koran. My mind was strongly turn- 
ed to the ministry, while in college ; but had I 
commenced my theological studies then, it would 
have been with a view of entering the Congre- 
gational church, for I knew no other. 

“ What you say concerning the writings of 


88 


THE HISTORY OF A 


Episcopal divines,” he continued, glancing his 
eye around his well-furnished library, ‘^‘is all 
very just. Our most approved theological works 
— those, I mean, which are in highest estima- 
tion among all denominations of Protestant 
Christians — are generally written by Episcopa- 
lians. See that long range of folios,” pointing 
to the lowest shelf of his library ; “ those are the 
productions of Church-of-England men, who 
applied their mighty intellects to the study and 
elucidation of the Scriptures ; and from their 
abundant stores most modern divines draw their 
richest supplies, either for the press or the 
pulpit. Look through the libraries of any of the 
ministers in this country — no matter of what 
denomination — and take from them all that has 
been written by Episcopal clergymen and lay- 
men,- and a meagre catalogue would remain. I 
do not mean to say that other denominations 
cannot boast of eminently pious and learned men; 
for I have many commentaries, written by their 
greatest -divines, which I value highly, and 
which I seldom consult without deriving plea- 
sure and instruction from them. The commen- 
taries of Doddridge are among my favourite 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


89 


works ; and so are those of Macknight, and 
Campbell, and Dwight ; with many others which 
might he named. But I do say, that all these 
writers are, in comparison to Episcopal theolo- 
gians, as a single star to ‘ the sun shining in his 
strength.’ This is no vain boasting. It is an 
indisputable fact, that all the clergymen in these 
United States are indebted more or less, to the 
divines of the English Church. Ought they 
not, therefore, to disabuse the minds of their 
people, when they hear this Church derided and 
scoffed at ? Ought they not freely to own their 
obligations to her burning and shining lights, 
for much of that reflected brightness which they 
themselves are able to display ? While they are 
recommending to the people of their charge the 
practical works of Law, and Beveridge, and 
Sherlock, and Horne, and Porteus, and Scott, and 
Newton, and Richmond, and Melville andWilber- 
force, and Hannah More — while they are extol- 
ling the missionary zeal of a Heber and a Martyn, 
— can they listen patiently, and without a word of 
reproof, to the calumnies which are so plenteous- 
ly lavished on the Episcopal Church? Would 
it not be well for them to stop the mouths of these 
8 * 


90 


THE HISTORY OF A 


railing accusers, by reminding them, that their 
sweeping slander touches some of the purest 
spirits that have ever enlightened and blessed the 
world by their labours ? Why will they not all 
say, as one of their most accomplished scholars 
and favourite divines has said, with a frankness 
which does equal credit to his head and heart ? 
— ‘ We remember that it was under the Episco- 
pacy that the Church in England took its firm 
stand against the Papacy ; and that this was its 
form when Zion rose to light and splendour 
from the dark night of ages. We remember 
Cranmer, — Cranmer first, in many respects, 
among the reformers ; that it was by his steady 
and unerring hand, that, under God, the pure 
Church of the Saviour was conducted through 
the agitating and distressing times of Henry 
VIII. We remember that God watched over 
that wonderful man ; that he gave this distin- 
guished prelate access to the heart of one of the 
most capricious, cruel, inexorable, blood-thirsty, 
and licentious monarchs, that has disgraced 
the world ; that God, for the sake of Cranmer 
and his Church, conducted Henry, as ‘by a 
hook in the nose,’ and made him faithful to the 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


91 


Archbishop of Canterbury, when faithful to none 
else. The world will not soon forget the names 
of Latimer, and Ridley, and Rogers, and Brad- 
ford ; names associated in the feelings of Chris- 
tians, with the long list of eminent confessors, 
of whom the world was not worthy ; and who 
did honour to the entire ages of mankind, by 
sealing their attachment to the Son of God, on 
the rack, or amid the flames. Nor can we forget 
that we owe to Episcopacy that which fills our 
minds with gratitude and praise, when we look 
for examples of consecrated talent, and elegant 
literature, and humble devoted piety. While 
men honour elevated Christian feeling; while 
they revere sound learning ; while they render 
tribute to clear and profound reasoning; they 
will not forget the names of Barrow, and Taylor, 
of Tillotson, and Hooker, and Butler; — and 
when they think of humble, pure, sweet, heaven- 
ly piety, their minds will recur instinctively to 
the name of Leighton. Such names, with a 
host of others, do honour to the world. When 
I we think of them, we have it not in our hearts to 
I utter one word against a church which has thus 
done honour to our race, and to our common 


92 


THE HISTORY OF A 


^Christianity.’ This is the warm, honest, honour- 
able expression, of one of the most distinguished 
and exemplary divines of the Presbyterian 
church, that the present age can boast of. — 
Would that these sentiments found a cordial 
response in the bosoms of all his brethren ! But 
I ought to apologize, perhaps, for detaining you 
thus long with these views : — I am now ready 
to listen to you.” 


CHAPTER XL 

Doctrines of the Church. — Necessity of a change of 
heart. — Comprehensiveness of the Prayer Book. — 
Advantages of Public Formularies. — Calvin’s Opinion 
on this subject. — Length of the Daily Service. 

“ It is sometimes confidently asserted,” my' 
young master observed, “ that Episcopalians do 
not believe in the necessity of a change of heart ; 
and I will thank you to inform me whether 
such is the fact respecting any of them ; for .your 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


93 


sermon last Sunday, on those words of David — 
‘ Create in me a clean heart, O Gon ; and renew 
a right spirit within me,’* satisfied my mind 
that your own views of conversion were truly 
scriptural.” 

“ That an old and oft-refuted calumny,” 

Mr. P replied, “which, so far as my 

observation goes, has no foundation whatever in 
truth ; and which never would be uttered by any 
person at all acquainted with our standards. 
The remarks just made to you, respecting that 
glorious constellation of divines, who for centu- 
ries have been the light and defence, under God, 
of the Protestant faith, prove how groundless 
I the charge is with respect to them. But I will 
j go further and say, that I never knew an Episco- 
: pal Clergyman, and I never heard of one, who 
did not believe that man is by nature fallen and 
; corrupt; that his sinful heart must be changed; 
that he must be renewed in the spirit of his mind, 
and become a new creature in Christ Jesus, by 
the operations of divine grace ; before he can be 
fitted for the bliss and glories of heaven. Whoever 


* Ps. li. 10. 


94 


THE HISTORY OF A 


believes in the corruption of human nature — who- 
ever believes, as our ninth Article expresses it, 
that ‘man is very far gone from original righteous- 
ness’ — must consequently believe in the absolute 
necessity of a change of heart ; because, ‘without 
holiness no man shall see the Lorp and he 
must be faithless to his ordination vows, who 
neglects to press this great, this fundamental 
truth, frequently and earnestly upon his hearers, 
‘ Ye must be born again.’ 

“ But let me refer you to the Prayer Book ; 
the only proper standard of what Episcopalians 
do, or do not, believe. Without stopping to 
consider your single objection, I will confidently 
ask. What doctrine does the Bible contain, as 
‘ necessary to salvation,’ that is not, again and 
again, clearly and distinctly set forth in our litur- 
gy ? Indeed, I will go further, and ask. Where 
is the orthodox Church in Christendom, that 
gives such prominence to the fundamental doc- 
trines of Christianity, as our own ? And where 
will you find a body of clergy more zealous and 
faithful than ours, in explaining and enforcing 
those doctrines ? None of us, alas ! are as de- 
voted in our M*^.ster’s cause as we ought to be ; 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


95 


but, for fidelity and zeal, we think we shall not 
sutler in the comparison with ministers of any 
other denomination. 

“ One of the greatest advantages of a public 
formulary, like ours, is to bring the primary and 
essential truths of the Gospel before the people 
in a regular and connected order. You have 
only to cun your eye over its pages, to be con- 
vinced with what admirable beauty and propriety 
the compilers of our Liturgy have arranged the 
services for every day in the year. A little at- 
tention to the Lessons, Gospels, and Epistles, 
for each day, will show with what judgment 
they are selected and suited to the occasion. 
You will generally find the second Lesson illus- 
trating the first, and the Epistle and Gospel 
explaining each other; thereby making Scrip- 
I ture its own interpreter. Beginning with the 
I Advent of the Messiah, the Church follows our 
I blessed Saviour, step by step, from the cradle to 
I the cross ; making ‘ Jesus Christ, and him 
I crucified,’ the corner stone, the very foundation 
I of the Gospel scheme of salvation. First recit- 
'ng the prophecies which announce his coming, 

I she goes on to show their fulfilment in his birth, 


96 


THE HISTORY OF A 


miracles, sufferings, death, resurrection, and 
ascension; then she proceeds to commemorate 
the wonderful effusion of the Holy Ghost, on 
the day of Pentecost ; and closes her most 
important festivals by celebrating the mystery of 
the adorable Trinity, and ascribing equal and 
undivided ‘ glory, to the Father, and to the 
Son, and to the Holy Ghost.’ . 

“ Another distinguished excellence of our 
Prayer Book is, that it excludes from the Church 
‘ all erroneous and strange doctrines and it 
preserves those who use it, from falling into 
heresy and error. An honest person cannot 
possibly unite in our services, and yet retain 
very dangerous opinions; he must either renounce 
his errors, or lay aside the Liturgy; Here he 
learns to pay divine honours to that Saviour, 
Christ, who is ‘ God over all, blessed for ever.’ 
Here he is continually reminded of man’s fallen 
and helpless state — of his absolute need of a 
Saviour — the extent and efficacy of Christ’s 
atonement — the necessity of renewing and sancti- 
fying grace — the eternity of future rewards and 
punishments — the necessity of repentance, of 
faith, and all holy obedience, to qualify him for 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


97 


that happiness which the Redeemer purchased 
with his blood, and to which the Holy Ghost is 
sent to lead him. Here, in short, he is continu- 
ally reminded of all those truths, ‘ which a 
Christian ought to know and believe to his soul’s 
health.’ I could relate many interesting facts, 
to prove to you the conservative influence of the 
Prayer Book ; but I will mention only one, 
which came under my own observation, and 
which, I think, will display to you, in a very 
striking manner, the tendency of the Liturgy to 
preserve, unimpaired, the great doctrines of the 
Gospel. Two clergymen, one a Presbyterian, 
the other an Episcopalian, having the pastoral 
care of large congregations, fell about the same 
It time into error, respecting that cardinal doctrine 
of Christianity, the Divinity of Christ. The 
former continued his ministrations as before, 
omitting, however, both in his prayers and ser- 
mons, all reference to this subject; and his congre- 
gation, accustomed by degrees to the omission, 

I ultimately became, like himself, Socinianin their 
belief; and still retain him as their minister. 
The Episcopal clergyman pursued the same 
course, in his sermons from the pulpit; but the 
9 


1 


98 THE HISTORY OF A 

full recognition of this great truth, which he was 
obliged to make in the services at the desk and , 
altar, was such as an ingenuous mind could not 
endure ; and he soon felt compelled to resign his | 
charge. He was shortly after displaced from 
the ministry. Although he possessed, in a re- 
markable degree, the esteem and affection of his i 
parishioners, for he was a man of great purity of ! 
character, and goodness of heart, yet not one of : 
them imitated his defection. Immediately after i 
his resignation, Providence sent them a pious, i 
faithful, and sound clergyman, who is now their 
pastor ; and the congregation is one of the most 
flourishing in our country. As respects their , 
first minister, there can be no doubt that he was 
never a firm believer in the Trinity ; for soon ; 
after his ordination, he said to a friend, that his i 
mind was unsettled on that subject, and that he 
intended giving it a full investigation. His ; 
friend replied, that he ought to have examined 
the subject, and fully satisfied his mind, before , 
he ventured to take upon himself the ordination 
vows. 

“ I ought also to mention, as another of the 
many excellencies of our Liturgy, that it makes 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


99 


the devotions of the congregation entirely inde- 
pendent of the talents, or opinions, or feelings, 
of their officiating minister. The great reformer, 
Calvin, himself saw what an immense advantage 
this must be; and his words are worthy the con- 
sideration of all his admirers; ‘As to a form 
of prayer, and ecclesiastical rites,’ he says, ‘ I 
highly approve that it should be certain, from 
which it may not be lawful for any minister to 
depart ; as well in consideration of the weakness 
and ignorance of some, as that it may more 
plainly appear how our churches agree* among 
themselves ; and lastly, that a stop may be put to 
the giddiness of those who affect novelties.’ Now 
whatever may be the ‘ weakness’ or the ‘ igno- 
rance’ of the minister, in our Church, he has a 
pure and rational formulary for his guide ; nor do 
I feel at liberty to add to, or abridge, this form. 
If any thing must be omitted, I consider it my 
duty to shorten the sermon, not the Liturgy.” 

“ Your remark,” said Mr. L , “ about 

shortening the Liturgy, reminds me, that I have 
sometimes heard the morning service objected 
to as too long ; is that your opinion ?” 

“To some persons, undoubtedly,” Mr. P 


100 


THE HISTORY OF A 


replied, “ the shortest prayers would seem too j 
long ; but I should hardly think this objection ! 
would be urged against our services, by any one j 
who has rightly considered the subject. You ! 
have no doubt observed that I read very deliber- b 
ately ; and yet the morning service never occupies [ 
more than an hour and a quarter, and the even- | 
ing service seldom an hour ; including the sing- ^ 
ing, chanting, psalms, and lessons. I say no- i 
thing about the sermon, because that is left to the [ 
discretion of the minister ; and he may make it ! 
longer or shorter, as he sees fit. Here, then, | 
are only two hours and a quarter employed, in 
both parts of the day, for offering up our prayers I 
and praises to Almighty God, and for reading , 
and hearing his Holy Word. Andean this be I 
considered too large a portion of that seventh [ 
day, which he has set apart and sanctified for that 
very end ? It must be borne in mind, that the 'i 
great object of all religious assemblies on the 
Lord’s day, is to worship God ; which can be ‘ 
done only by prayer and praise. Hence God’s i 
house is emphatically styled a ‘ House of ! 
Prayer.’ Keeping this design in view, can the | 
services of the Church be justly considered too I 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


101 


long and tedious, to engage our hearts only one 
day in seven, and that a day, the whole of which 
was appointed for this special purpose?” 

“ There isluuch force in what you say,” my 
master observed, “ and although, since I began 
to like your Liturgy, I have never been wearied 
with its length, yet your remarks will better 
enable me to answer the objections of others. 
But do you not think that a constant repetition 
of the same forms, will in time become irksome ? 
I have heard it complained of, that your service 
is the same thing over and over again ; and it has 
also been said, that it would be less tedious 
were there more variety.” 

“I know this is sometimes said,” replied Mr. 

P , “ but only by those who seek novelties. 

For myself I can say, that so far from the 
services becoming irksome by frequent repeti- 
tion, they are continually rendered more and more 
interesting. Hardly a day passes but I discover 
some new beauties, whjch commend them more 
strongly to my understanding and my heart. 
Where the imagination only is consulted, I grant 
you that novelty is desirable ; but not so with 
the affections. That which we most love, we 
9 * 


102 


THE HISTORY OF A 


never desire should change ; it never becomes 
wearisome. Can any thing be sweeter to a , 
child’s ear than the voice of a mother ? Is any 
object more agreeable to the eye than the counte- • 
nance of an old friend '? Do we not wish to see 
our parents and friends, whom we dearly love, , 
always the same? And why? Because the ' 
heart is interested ; these are objects which i 
seize upon the affections. But to gratify the ; 
imagination, scenes must be continually changing; ; 
and this, I conceive, is the true cause of the ' 
objection sometimes brought against the Liturgy, i 
that it is always the same. The objectors seek j 
to gratify the ear, while the heart 'remains unaf- ■ 
fected. They do not, perhaps, consider that our 
public mercies, and our public wants,, are daily ' 
the same ; and that our prayers and praises ! 
should be so too. But yoii will excuse me from 
entering further into this discussion ; I have an 
engagement to fulfil at this hour, and I shall be 
happy to see you on some other day.” 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


103 


CHAPTER XII. 

The Prayer Book is sent by Mr. L , a present to his 

mother. — His letter. — How received by the good lady. 
Her prejudices against the Church. — How removed. — 
AlU interesting Conversation. — Undesigned eulogium 
on the office for Family Devotion. 

My new master continued his examination of 
I the doctrines and worship of the Church with 
j unabated interest ; daily praying that the Spirit 
i of divine truth* would enlighten his understand- 
j ing, and enable him both rightly to discern, and. 
fearlessly to pursue, the good and the right way. 
In all cases of doubt and difficulty he advised 
with his minister, who obligingly aided him by 
his counsel, and by putting into his hands the 
most suitable books of instruction and practical 
piety. In the course of a few months both he 
and his wife united themselves with the Church 
by receiving the holy communion ; I trust with 
such dispositions of heart as rendered them 
“ meet partakers of those holy mysteries.” 


104 


THE HISTORY OF A 


Immediately after this event, I was sent a 

present to his mother, as Mr. P had sug- ' 

gested. This good lady lived in another part of ■ 
the state, and was the mistress of a small but ' 
respectable public house. Her son wrote to i 
her on this occasion, and I cannot help transcrib- 1 
ing the conclusion of his letter which I heard 1 
read. ' 

After informing her of his having joined the i 
communion of the Episcopal Church, he says: ; 

“ I know, my dear mother, that this will ' 
greatly excite your surprise ; but believe me, I i 
have done it after patient and candid examination, ■ 
with prayer for the guidance of divine wisdom, ' 
and from a full conviction that I was acting right. ; 
Knowing the unfavourable opinion you entertain S 
of the Church to which I have attached myself, [l 
and convinced, as I am, that more information 
on the subject, than you have ever had it in your 
power to obtain, would entirely remove your ' 
objections, I have taken the liberty to send you ! 
a Prayer Book. I beg, my dearest mother, you i 
will give it an attentive perusal ; and then tell 
me whether you think that a Church, which i 
maintains such doctrines, and worships with ' 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


105 


such a form, can be much in the wrong, either 
in creed or practice. 

“ Believe me, my beloved mother, I never 
was happier in my life. There is something so 
decent, orderly, and solemn, in the manner in 
which our services are performed, that I always 
feel as if I was truly worshipping God, ‘ with 
the spirit and with the understanding also.’ 

I “You, who have been many years a conscien- 
tious communicant in another Church, no doubt 
I feel more of the spirit of true devotion when 
' worshipping God in your own way ; and it 
1 rejoices me to think that hereafter, through the 
i infinite mercies of our common Redeemer, we 
shall both be permitted to join in that one 
worship, which angels and saints continually 
pay around his throne. Although distance now 
separates us, and there are some points of differ- 
ence in our religious views, yet I trust we shall 
ever be one in heart and affection. To you, my 
dear mother, I am indebted, under God, for all 
my early religious impressions. May he 
abundantly reward and bless you, for all your 
i care and kindness towards me ; may He take us 
^iboth into His holy keeping, and finally bring us 


106 


THE HISTORY OF A 


to Himself, never more to be separated from \ 
Him, or from each other. And this I trust he 
will do, for the sake of our Lord and Saviour 
Jesus Christ. ' 

“ Most affectionately and truly, your son, | 

“ B. L ! 

This letter was put into her hand, at the same 
time that I was presented to her. She paid no ! 
attention to me, but seemed wholly engrossed 
with her son’s letter. The tears rolled down I 
her cheeks as she read it; but whether they i 
were tears of joy or of sorrow, I could not at | 
first determine. Some expressions of regret, 1 
however, at her son’s having joined the Church, 
led me to conclude that her tears were not alto- ! 
gether the overflowings of a glad and grateful j 
heart. But there was so much kindness and I 
affection breathed throughout the letter, that it 
must have softened her feelings ; and I heard her 
say aloud, after reading it a second time— • 
“Well, after all, I do believe he is a Christian ; 
he was always one of the best and most dutiful 
of sons, and this act of his is almost the only one | 
of his life, of which I ever had any reason to i 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


107 


complain.” The good woman wiped her eyes, 
as the remembrance of her son’s former love and 
obedience occurred, to soothe the grief which his 
present conduct had occasioned. Folding up 
the letter, she took me in her hand, and after 
carelessly turning over my leaves a few times, 
she laid me down with a deep drawn sigh, that 
told the bitterness of her reflections. 

For many days I remained altogether unno- 
ticed. Now and then my new mistress would 
hastily read a page or two, but evidently without 
feeling any interest in the subject. Being the 
gift of a favourite son, she probably could not 
■ bring her mind to throw me wholly aside. 

Some weeks after I became her property, I 
[was lying on a table in the little parlour, where 
I strangers usually sat — for my mistress, as I 
before remarked, was the landlady of a respec- 
1 table inn — when a gentleman in black was 
[shown into the room. Having thrown aside his 
travelling coat, and taken his seat by the fire, he 
iasked if he could be accommodated with supper 
and lodging for the night. She replied in the 
affirmative, and immediately commenced the 
necessary preparations. While she was spread- 


108 


THE HISTORY OF A 


ing the cloth for tea, I attracted the attention of 
the stranger, and taking me up he said, “ So, 
madam, I see you have a Prayer Book here ; 
are your family Episcopalians?” 

“ No, sir,” she replied, “ that is a book which 
my son sent me. 

“Your son, then, probably belongs to the 
Episcopal Church?” 

“ Yes sir, he and his wife have lately joined 
it, and I am sorry for it.” 

“ But why so — why are you sorry?” 

“ Because I do not believe there is any reli- 
gion in that Church.” 

“ That, certainly, is a sufficient reason ; you 
have just cause to mourn, if your son belongs to 
a Church which has no religion in it. But do 
you mean to say, that you think your son is 
destitute of religious principles ?” 

“ Oh, no ! by no means ! If ever there was a 
Christian, I believe he is one ; but I think there 
is less of true piety in that Church than in any 
other.” 

“ Will you be so kind as to state your reasons 
for this opinion ; for it is surely a very serious 
charge.” 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


109 


Here I saw my mistress looked a little con- 
fused, as those persons are apt to look, who 
make unqualified assertions, and are unexpect- 
edly called upon to substantiate them. How- 
ever, soon regaining her composure, she said 
“ there was so much of form in that mode of 
worship, that she had been led to suppose there 
could not be a great deal of real religion there.” 

“ Well, but have you ever read those forms at- 
tentively? Have you ever read this Prayer Book?” 

“ Not much of it, I confess ; I never could 
endure forms of prayer.” 

“ Have you ever read any Episcopal books, 
either doctrinal or practical ?” 

“ Never one, that I know of.” 

“ Did you ever hear the service read, or an 
Episcopal Clergyman preach ?” 

Here my mistress seemed to take courage, as 
if an idea had been suggested which would ex- 
tricate her from the unpleasant dilemma into 
which she had unguardedly fallen ; for she im- 
mediately replied, with no little triumph — “ Yes, 
I once heard an Episcopal minister preach, and 
I did not like his sermon ; he said nothing about 
total depravity, nor absolute election; and he 
10 


no 


THE HISTORY OF A 


proved to be a very bad man, and was degraded ii 
from the ministry.” | 

“All this may be very true; there are no | 
doubt unworthy ministers to be found among ■ 
every religious denomination ; but it is far from 
being candid, or charitable, to condemn the 
whole on account of the errors of a few.” 

The stranger now perceived how Utterly I 
ignorant she was of the subject, on which she i 
at first so confidently pronounced an opinion ; j 
he therefore despaired of convincing her by any 
formal argument. He could not talk to her | 
about the excellency of the Prayer Book, for i 
she had never read it ; nor of the beauty of the ^ 
service, for she had heard it performed but once i 
in her life ; nor could he refer her to Episcopal 
writers, for by her own acknowledgment she | 
had never read any ; so he said — 

“ Madam, did you ever hear of John Rogers?” ' 
“ What, he who was burnt at Smithfield, in 
'the reign of the bloody Mary ?” ' 

“ The same.” i 

“Yes, every child has heard of him. I re- 
member when I was a little girl, exactly how he I 
used to look in the primer, with his wife and I 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


Ill 


ten small children standing by, when he was 
offered a pardon, if he would renounce his faith ; 
but he chose to be burnt alive, in sight of his 
dear wife and babes. Many a time have I cried 
over his sad story.” 

“You think, then, John Rogers must have 
been a good man ?” 

“ Why, to be sure I do. Does not every 
body think him a Christian martyr, w'ho died 
gloriously for the faith of Christ ?” 

“ Do you think he would belong to a Church 
which had no religion in it, or that he would 
make use of prayers which were sinful ?” 

“ By no means ; I believe he was as good a 
Christian as ever lived ; and I wish there were 
many such now-a-days.” 

“ Well, this same John Rogers w'as an Epis- 
copal clergyman ; he belonged to the same 
Church to which your son belongs ; and he 
used the same form of prayers, in substance, 

; which your son now uses, and which you think 
so unmeaning. You probably never thought of 
this before ; and it is very possible that you are 
i more indebted to Episcopal authors, for your 
li religious knowledge, than you are aware of ; 


112 


THE HISTORY OF A 


for you say, and no doubt think, you have never 
read any of their works. Will you allow me to 
look at your devotional books ?” 

“My mistress readily consented, little sus- 
pecting that she possessed a single volume writ- 
ten by a churchman. Opening a small closet 
in the room, she pointed to a shelf, saying, 
“ There are all my religious books.” 

The stranger began to examine them, and the 
first he took down was “The World without 
Souls,” by the Rev. J. W. Cunningham. A 
slight smile played upon his lips, as he said 
“ What think you of this little work ?” 

“ Oh, that is one of the best books I ever 
read.” 

“I am happy to hear that you think so, for it was 
written by a clergyman of the English Church.” 

“You surprise me; but whoever wrote it 
must have been a good man.” 

“Here,” he continued, “is ‘Sherlock on 
Death what is your opinion of that?” 

“A very pious work, which I have often 
read with much pleasure and profit ; but do you 
mean to say that was written by an Episcopa- 
lian ?” 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


113 


“I do; and one of the most distinguished 
divines of our Church. But what comes next ? 
‘ Law’s Serious Call,’ ‘ Dairyman’s Daughter,’ 
* Young Cottager,’ ‘ Zion’s Pilgrim,’ ‘ Scott’s 
Force of Truth,’ ‘John Newton’s Works’ — all 
by Episcopal divines, and I dare say you esteem 
them all as excellent devotional books.” 

“That I do,” she replied; “they are my 
spiritual treasury, and I am asjjamed to think 
how little I knew about the authors. If the 
Episcopal Church has produced such men as 
these, I will never again object to my son’s 
having joined i.t, but bless God that he has 
fallen into such excellent company.” 

Here the conversation was interrupted by the 
servant’s bringing in the gentleman’s supper. 

That evening, the stranger, who proved to be 
a clergyman, was asked to officiate at family 
prayers ; and kneeling down, without any book 
before him, he repeated from memory the forms 
appointed for that purpose. Before he retired, 
my mistress said to him, “ I was quite delighted 
with your prayer this evening; and I think you 
yourself will acknowledge that such a prayer, 
offered extempore, is much better than any 
10 * 


114 


. THE HISTORY OF A 


I 

form.” He smiled, and taking me up, he turned ! 
to the office for family devotion, saying, “ There | 
is the prayer, word for word, which you have j 
heard me use, and which has so justly excited ! 
your admiration.” Then bidding her good j 
night, he left the room. i 


CHAPTER XHI. i 

. . j 

The Prayer Book resumes its travels. — Autumnal Scene- ■ 
ry. — ^Journey through Ohio and Pennsylvania. — - 

Mineral Springs at B . Church service in a j 

Presbyterian house of worship. — Returns to New ji 
Y ork. — Unexpected separation from its master. — Comes 
into possession of a layman. — Witnesses the gathering [ 
of a new congregation, and the erection of another I 
Church, in South-western New York. 

The next morning, when the stranger was ! 
about departing, he proposed to my mistress to 
exchange a larger and much more costly Prayer I 
Book, which he had with him, for me ; as he 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


115 


had yet a long journey to perform, and would 
find me more convenient to carry. To this she 
readily assented, and I again entered upon my 
travels. The clergyman into whose possession 
I now came was returning from the south, to his 
parish in the state of New York, having been 
travelling some months for the benefit of his 
health. Long shall I remember, with delight, 
our journey in this most interesting section of 
our country. As we passed along through that 
fertile and highly cultivated region, which forms 
the southern portion of Ohio, and beheld many 
large and flourishing villages, with a thriving and 
happy yeomanry, it was difficult to realize, that 
even within the memory of persons then living, 
this whole tract was a “ waste, howling wilder- 
ness.” Yet such was the fact; the tide of 
emigration, rolling westward from the Atlantic, 
had swept away the forests in its course ; towns 
and villages had arisen in their place ; and the 
war-whoop of the Indian, and the howling of 
wild beasts, had been succeeded by the busy hum 
of population, and the noise of the hammer of 
the artisan. 

It was the delightful month of October; a 


116 


THE HISTORY OF A 


season peculiarly favourable for travelling, in our |* 
northern and middle states. The days were • 
bright and clear, and there was an elasticity in i 
the air, which imparted animation and vigour to > 
both mind and body. The fields, it is true, had [ 
lost much of their freshness.; but the forest trees 
w'ere putting on their richest livery. The deep 
and varied tints of the maple and the sumach, 
might vie with the brightest colours of the rain- 
bow ; and none but His hand, who “bended” 
the heavenly arch, could produce such an ex- 
quisite assemblage of bright and brilliant hues, 
as the woods every where presented. Crossing i 
the Ohio river, and through a part of Virginia, ' 
w'e entered upon the magnificent mountain ; 
scenery of Pennsylvania. Here nature appeared 
in its wildest and grandest form. Those lofty 
Alleghanies, whose blue peaks I had often ad- 
mired in the distance, now towered majestically 
around me, and directed the thoughts of the 
traveller to Him who, with resistless might, 
piled together these huge masses ; and of whom 
it is said. He hath “ weighed the mountains in 
scales, and the hills in a balance.”* After 


* Isa. xl. 12 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


117 


journeying several days among these mountains, 
sometimes crossing over their rugged summits, 
and then again passing them by a deep ravine, 
which some rapid torrent had worn, as it strug- 
gled to meet the Ohio or the Susquehanna, we 
entered the delightful valley, where stands the 

village of B , about two miles from which 

are the mineral springs of the same name. 
Here my master concluded to rest a while from 
the fatigues of his journey; and a pleasanter 
spot than these springs afforded could not be 
desired. It reminded me of “ the happy valley,” 
so beautifully described by Johnson, in his Ras- 
selas. It was indeed a valley of surpassing 
loveliness; surrounded by lofty and precipitous 
mountains, whose sides and summits were 
covered with majestic forest trees, now clothed 
in the richest robes of autumn. 

During our stay here, my master was invited 
to officiate on a Sunday, in the neighbouring 
village of B ; and there being no other cler- 

gyman in the town, the “ meeting house” was 
kindly offered him. He took me with him into 
the pulpit, and read the daily morning and even- 
ing prayers ; but as there were no Episcopalians 


118 


THE HISTORY OF A 


I 


to take the responsive part of the service, much ^ 
of its beauty was necessarily lost ; still there i 
was such simplicity and pious pathos in the 
language of the Liturgy, as to draw forth great i 
praise from many of the congregation, who had 
never heard it before. The singing was excel- 
lent ; all the congregation appearing to join in it, 
as the clergyman read to them, line by line, the 
psalm or hymn. 

On our leaving this retired and peaceful valley, 
we travelled leisurely along through the rich 
central region of Pennsylvania ; nothing special 
occurring until we entered the" state of New 
York. Here, to my great grief, I was separated 
from my master, whom I had anxiously wished j 
to accompany home to his parish. Stopping one 
night at a public house, he took me out to read, 
as was his custom before going to bed ; and the 
next morning, rising early to proceed on his 
journey, in the hurry of departure I was for- 
gotten, and he went away leaving me on the 
table in his bed-room. There the chamber- ^ 
maid found me, and knowing that I must be the 
property of the traveller just gone, she took me 
into her own possession. She kept me, how- 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


119 


ever, but a little while ; for a travelling pedler 
coming along, she bartered me away for some 
trifling ornament of dress. He sold me to a 
gentleman who had just organized a small con- 
gregation, and wished to procure a few Prayer 
Books for their immediate use. I was gratified 
with this last exchange, fori expected once more 
to witness the interesting scene of a new con- 
gregation growing up, under the nursing care 
of a pious and intelligent layman. And this 
expectation was fully realized. My master, Mr. 

F , was a merchant in S , a small village 

in the south-western part of New York. He 
and his wife had been educated in the Presbyte- 
rian church ; and having, about the same time, 
had their attention awakened to the importance 
of eternal things, and feeling it their duty to 
make a public profession of their faith in Christ, 
they set about the important inquiry, — With 
what denomination of Christians should they 
connect themselves ? The village in which they 
resided, contained congregations of almost every 
name, excepting the Episcopal ; but in each of 
these they found something objectionable, either 
in doctrine or worship, which prevented their 


120 


THE HISTORY OF A 


uniting with its communion. Of the Episcopal 
church, they at that time knew nothing. But 
while their minds were in this unsettled state, it 

providentially happened that “ Father N ,” 

whose history has already been related, in his 
missionary travels, stopped at the tavern in 
S- . My master hearing of his arrival, in- 

vited him to his house, that he and his wife 
might learn from this venerable missionary, 
something respecting the doctrines, ministry, 
and worship of the church. Nearly the whole 
night was spent in listening to the instructions of 
this holy man ; and before the morning light 
dawned, both my master and his wife had made up 
their minds to unite with the Episcopal Church. 
The nearest place of worship was fourteen miles I 
distant, and the way to it was over a very hilly j 
country, and rough road ; yet thither my master ! 
and his family went every Saturday evening, ! 
that they might be there in time for the com- ; 
mencement of the service on Sunday morning. | 
After a time, this was found to be very inconve- 
nient, and Mr. F determined to have a 

church nearer home. It was an arduous attempt i 
indeed, to build up the church in a village where 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


121 


there were such a variety of congregations 
already, and where his was the only Episcopal 
family. But my master was not a man to be 
discouraged by such circumstances. He knew 
from his own experience, that if the prevailing 
ignorance respecting the Church could be re- 
moved, many would be found flocking into it. 
He accordingly hired a room, commenced lay- 
reading, invited such of his neighbours, as chose, 
to join him. For a time, the number of attend- 
ants was very small ; and Mrs. F was 

almost the only one to make the responses. The 
congregation, however, gradually and steadily 
increased. A lot containing four acres of land, 
which was sufficiently large for a burial ground, 
and other purposes, was purchased in the centre of 
the village ; and in process of time, a very neat, 
commodious, and well-arranged church edifice 
was erected upon it. On the day of its conse- 
j cration, the Bishop administered the holy rite of 
j confirmation to thirty-nine persons. Through 
i the zeal and enterprise of the parish, aided by 
I the missionary fund of the diocese, a minister 
! was now settled over them. The church was 
furnished with a bell, organ, and communion 
I 11 


i 


122 


THE HISTORY OF A 


plate, and all other things necessary to the 
performance of the service, with decency and in 
order. Nor was there any burdensome debt 
incurred, by these operations ; all were paid for, 
by contributions made in the village ; with the 
exception of a few hundred dollars given by 
some benevolent individuals in the city of New 
York. In a few years after the church was 
completed, a neat and convenient parsonage 
house was also erected ; which contributed great- 
ly to the comfort of the minister. My master 
lived to see the church well filled with worship- 
pers, and more than seventy communicants at 
its altar. He had established a Sunday-school, 
which he superintended himself, and which 
numbered eighty scholars, and sixteen teachers, 
with a well selected library of five hundred 
volumes. And all these things were accomplish- 
ed in the short space of ten years, from the time 
the church was first organized. 

I have anticipated my history a little, to give 
the result of my master’s labours in the cause of 
the church. His death occurred a few years 
after I left him. 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


123 


CHAPTER XIV. 


Unlocked for separation. — A young convict. — Form of 
Prayer for the Visitation of Prisoners. — A penitent 
Criminal. — Advantage of Prayer Books in our state 
prisons. — The Convict released. 

I HAD been with my master about five years, 
when I • was unexpectedly separated from him, 
in the following singular and painful manner. 
One day while the family were all out, and I 
was lying upon the sofa in the parlour, the door 
being open, a young man stole hastily in, cast 
his eye around to see what he might most handi- 
ly take, then seizing a gold watch from the 
mantel, and at the ^same time thrusting me into 
his pocket, he made off, unperceived by any 
one. He was, however, soon after apprehend- 
ed, tried, convicted, and sentenced to the state’s 
prison for three years. On the day of trial, he 
exhibited strong feelings of remorse and peni- 
tence, which I have since had every reason to 
believe were truly sincere. 


124 


THE HISTORY OF A 


My master, from whom he had stolen the 
watch, was so much affected by his appearance, 
for he was young in years, and probably young j 
in crime, that he shed tears when sentence was 
pronounced against him. On his being remand- | 
ed back to jail, this good man accompanied him, ' 
and begged him to take me with him to his ! 
prison, as a profitable companion for his solitary ; 
hours. “You will,” said my master, “be al- | 
lowed a Bible in your cell, which I earnestly | 
pray you may study attentively, and with a 
sincere desire of being brought to a knowledge I 
of your sinful and wretched state. You will ► 
there read, on the pages of divine truth, that the 
‘ wicked shall be turned into hell’ — that, ‘ ex- ; 
cept you repent and believe, you shall perish’ - 
eternally ; at the same time, you will also read i 
for your encouragement, that if you do sincerely 
and earnestly repent you of your sins, and turn 
to Jesus Christ by a true and lively faith, ' 
‘ though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as 
white as snow ; though they be red like crimson, I 
they shall be as wool.’’'^ In your solitary 


♦ Is. i. 18 . 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


125 


confinement you will have much opportunity 
for serious reflection ; and you will be forced, 
however unwillingly, to call your sins to remem- 
brance. But if you repent and reform, there is 
yet a prospect of your being restored to the good 
opinion of the world, and becoming a useful and 
honourable member of society ; for, in consider- 
ation of your youth, your term of imprisonment 
is limited to the shortest space the law allows. 
This Prayer Book will serve to remind you of 
the crime for which you are now punished. Let 
me earnestly entreat you to use it diligently, as 
you have opportunity. Here are prayers 
particularly suited to your condition ; especially 
the collects for Ash Wednesday, the general 
confession in the Communion Service, the 
Litany, and the penitential psalms ; which I will 
mark for you. But I would most strongly 
recommend ‘ The form of Prayer for the visita- 
tion of Prisoners begging you to read, again 
and again, the impressive exhortation which it 
contains. There can be no language more ap- 
propriate to your case ; and I therefore now ad- 
dress you in those very words, and ‘ Exhort you 
in the name of God, and of his Son Jesus 
11 * 


126 


THE HISTORY OF A 


i 


Christ our Saviour, and as you tender your i 
own salvation, to take good heed of these things i 
in time, while the day of salvation lasteth ; for * 
the night cometh, when no man can work, . 
While you have the light, believe in the light, 
and walk as children of the light, that you be not i, 
cast into outer darkness; that you may not I 
knock when the door shall be shut ; and cry for i 
mercy, when it is the time for justice. Now 
you are the object of God’s mercy, if by repen- 
tance and true faith, you turn unto hirfi ; but if 
you neglect these things, you will be the object j 
of his justice and vengeance. Now you may i 
claim the merits of Christ ; but if you die in i 
your sins, his sufferings will tend to your great- i 
er condemnation. O beloved, consider in this i 
your day, how fearful a thing it will be to fall into j 
the hands of the living God, when you can neither 1 
fly to his mercy to protect you, nor to the merits j 
of Christ to cover you in that terrible day.’ ” 
What effect this most solemn and affectionate i 
exhortation had upon the young criminal at the { 
time, I could not determine. He sobbed and j 
v^ept bitterly all the while my master was with j 
him ; and when they parted, he only pressed his ' 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


127 


hand, and burst into a fresh flood of tears. I 
was pleased with these expressions of sensibili- 
ty, because they plainly told that his heart was 
not altogether hardened in crime; and I hoped, 
that in time, divine grace would make it indeed 
such “ a broken and contrite heart” as God has 
promised “not to despise.” 

When my master was removed to the prison, 
in the western part of the state, he took me with 
him, and was permitted to keep me in his cell. 
For some weeks he seldom looked into me, or 
his Bible, and I began to fear the advice of my 
late master had been entirely forgotten. He 
wept almost incessantly ; and, when alone, he 
would often break forth into loud and passionate 
expressions of grief; but his sorrow seemed to 
arise rather from the conviction of his having 
brought indelible disgrace on himself, and shame 
and distress on his widowed mother, than from 
a consciousness of his own sinfulness in thje 
sight of God. Often, while occupying his 
narrow cell, would he make the most piteous 
apostrophes to his poor, broken-hearted mother, 
whose gray hairs, he said, he had “ brought 
down with sorrow to the grave.” 


128 


THE HISTORY OF A 


As his grief became less violent, he would 
occasionally take up his Bible and read a page 
or two, but apparently rather for the purpose of 
diverting his mind, and beguiling the tedious 
hours, than for obtaining spiritual benefit from it. 
As yet, I had remained altogether neglected ; 
but one day taking me up, he providentially 
opened at the “ exhortation,” in the “ Form 
for the visitation of Prisoners,” where my late 
master had turned down a leaf, that it might 
attract his attention. He commenced reading ; 
soon his mind became riveted to the^subject; as I 
he went on, he trembled from head to foot; j 
large clammy drops stood on his pale forehead ; I 
and when he came to that expression, “ 0 be- 
loved, consider in this your day, how fearful a 
thing it will be to fall into the hands of the living 
God,” he exclaimed in the bitterest agony, 

“ What shall I do to be saved ?” Then striking 
his breast with his clenched hand, he cried out, 
“God be merciful to me a sinner.” It was the first 
prayer I had ever heard him utter; it came from an 
humbled, contrite heart, and it entered into His 
ears, “whoheareth prayer,” and before whom 
“ the sighing of the prisoner” always comes. 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


129 


From that time, his Bible and Prayer Book 
became his constant study and delight. Again 
and again has he wept over the affecting story 
of the Prodigal Son, and then knelt down on 
the cold damp stones of his cell, and poured forth 
his soul in that penitential prayer, “ Almighty 
and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that 
thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all 
those who are penitent; create and make in me 
a new and contrite heart, that I, worthily 
lamenting my sins, and acknowledging my 
wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of 
all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness, 
through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Then he 
would turn to that humble confession in the 
Communion Service, “Almighty God, Father 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, maker of all things. 
Judge of all men ; I acknowledge and bewail 
my manifold sins and wickedness, which I from 
time to time most grievously have committed, by 
thought, word, and deed, against thy Divine 
Majesty ; provoking most justly thy wrath 
and indignation against me. I do earnestly re- 
pent, and am heartily sorry for these my misdo 
ings ; the remembrance of them is grievous unto 


130 


THE HISTORY OF A 


me; the burden of them is intolerable. Have i 
mercy upon me, have mercy upon me, most 
merciful Father; for thy Son our Lord Jesus i 
Christ’s sake, forgive me all that is past ; and ! 
grant that I may ever hereafter, serve and please i 
thee in newness of life, to the honour and glory j 
of thy name, through Jesus Christ our Lord.” | 
Still continuing on his knees, he would repeat, : 
with the greatest earnestness, the fifty-first psalm ; 

“ Have mercy upon me, O God, after thy great , 
goodness ; according to the multitude of thy ; 
mercies, do away mine ♦ofiences. . Wash me [ 
thoroughly from my wickedness ; and cleanse ; 
me from my sin. For I acknowledge my J 
faults; and my sin is ever before me,” &;c. 

I remember in that deservedly popular little : 
tract, “ The Dairyman’s Daughter,” an interest- l 
ing anecdote is related of “ a very careless and 
profligate” person having “ received a deep and 
serious conviction of his sin and danger, through 
some of the expressions contained in the burial 
service,” which he heard read at the grave. The 
case of my master was somewhat similar ; he 
often referred to the “ exhortation,” before al- 
luded to, as the instrument through divine grace, 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


131 


of bringing him to a knowledge of the “ truth as 
it is in Jesus.” There, in his deep lone cell, a 
banished man, shut out from the sun, and from 
all intercourse with his fellow men, that solemn 
address had been made to carry conviction to his 
heart; the bright beams of mercy had shone in 
upon him ; he was “ brought out of darkness 
and the shadow of death, into the glorious light 
and liberty of the sons of God by the grace of 
Christ he was made “ free indeed.” 

Since that event, ever to be remembered, I 
have often thought what a blessing would be 
conferred on the convicts in our prison, if in ad- 
dition to a Bible, each one was presented with a 
Prayer Book. Not only would they have, in 
our truly evangelical Liturgy, a clear and con- 
nected exhibition of the great truths of the gospel, 
but they would find in it appeals to the heart the 
most solemn and impressive, and prayers admira- 
bly suited to their circumstances and condition. 

At the expiration of his period of confinement, 
my master left the prison with very different 
views from those in which he had entered it. An 
entire change had been wrought in him, through 
the power of the Holy Ghost, and he could 


132 


THE HISTORY OF A 


now say, with David, “0 Lord my God, Ij 
cried unto thee ; and thou hast heard me. Thou ! 
Lord, hast brought my soul out of hell.”^ “ He 
brought me also out of the horrible pit, out of the 
mire and clay, and set my foot upon the rock, i. 
and ordered my goings. And he hath put a new 
song in my mouth, even a thanksgiving unto our |, 
GoD.”t i 

He well knew that his crime and punishment \ 
had affixed a stigma upon his character, in the j 
eyes of the world, which no subsequent good ^ 
conduct could ever entirely remove. He there- i 
fore resolved to go to some distant part of the j 
country, where he was unknown, and endeavour, 
by a life of industry and piety, again to become 
useful and respected in the world. His widowed ' 
mother had, more than a year before, gone down i 
to the grave with a broken heart. Having 
therefore no earthly ties to bind him to his native 
place, he commenced his journey eastward, in- ' 
tending to take passage in New York for some ! 
of the southern states. His Bible and Prayer I 
Book were tied up, together with his slender i 


* Ps. XXX. 2, 3. 


f Ps. xl. 2, 3. 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


133 


amount of clothing, in a small bundle, which he 
threw across his shoulder. Thus equipt, as he 
was travelling on foot along the road, I happened 
to fall out unperceived, and he went on, leaving 
me behind 


CHAPTER XV. 

The Prayer Book again 'changes hands. — An aged Chris- 
tian widow. — Her character. — Acts of charity. — Satur- 
day-school for the poor. 

A FEW hours after ray master lost me, I was 
picked up by a little girl, who was returning 
home from school. She lived with her aged 
grandmother, a pious widow of three score and 
ten years. As she ^ntered the house, her cheeks 
blooming with health and exercise, and her 
bright eyes sparkling with pleasure, -she ex- 
claimed, “See, grandma, what a nice Prayer 
Book I have found. It is much better than the 
i one you gave me a long time ago, and if you 
12 


134 


THE HISTORY OF A 


please, I intend taking it with me to the Church 
every Sunday. I am very glad I found it.” 

“But, my dear,” said the good old lady, 

“ you must recollect that you could not have 
found it, unless some one had lost it ; and I dare 
say, while you are rejoicing, he is grieving for 
his misfortune. And perhaps he cannot get 
another, whereas you could have done very well 
without it. We must make inquiries and see if j 
we cannot find the owner, and restore it to him 
again. I doubt not you would do so cheerfully.” ' 

“ That I would, grandmother; but if we can- j 
not learn whose it is, then I suppose I may keep 
it myself.” ! 

“ Certainly, my child ; and I hope you will , 
take good care of it, and derive much profitable 1 
instruction from its evangelical pages. It is, as 
you say, a very good one, although old and con- 
siderably worn.” ! 

I was quite pleased wi^ the appearance of ' 
this aged Christian, when I first saw her ; her ! 
look, her manner, her voice, were all expressive I 
of those lovely graces and virtues, which adorn j 
the true disciple of the blessed Jesus ; and which, j 
I afterwards found, were more happily blended I 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


135 


in her than in any individual I have ever known. 
I cannot attempt a full delineation of her charac- 
ter. She was truly a “ mother in Israel and, 
like Dorcas, whose praise is in the gospel, “ was 
full of good works, and alms-deeds which she 
did.”* Blessed with a competency of this world’s 
goods, and considering herself an almoner of the 
bounties of Providence, her delight was to min- 
ister, in every possible way, to the wants of the 
poor, the sick, and the afflicted ; believing what 
an apostle hath told us, that “ none of us liveth 
to himself. ”t And yet, while all were celebrat- 
ing her praises, while the poor spoke of her 
with the warmest affection, as their best earthly 
friend, while the widows and orphans were fond 
of “ showing the coats and garments which she 
made” for them, she continued the same humble, 
unostentatious, single-hearted Christian ; alto- 
gether unconscious that she was doing more than 
others in her sphere of life. One of her most 
useful charities, which I take pleasure in record- 
ing, was a school for industry, which she had 
established in her own house. On every. Satur- 


* Acts ix. 36. 


-j- Rom. xiv. 7. 


136 


THE HISTORY OF A 


day afternoon, many of the poor female children ( 
of the village, those especially belonging to the 
Sunday-school of her own Church, to the num- 
ber of thirty or forty, assembled at her house ; 
where she taught them to sew and knit, and em- 
ployed them in making up coarse but comfortable 
clothing, for themselves and their little brothers 
and sisters, that they might all appear decently 
clad at Church on a Sunday. Thus, while the 
naked were clothed, they learned how to provide 
for themselves, and acquired habits of industry 
and neatness, which refidered them useful to their 
parents at home. 

For ten years had this benevolent lady per- 
severed in her plans of training up the helpless ] 
children of the poor to industrious habits ; and | 
every year brought fresh proofs of the utility of 
her scheme. It was a delightful privilege, which 
her friends often enjoyed, to enter the school- ' 
room on a Saturday afternoon, and see this ^ 
venerable matron surrounded by her little pupils, 
all industriously at work with their needles, 
while the greatest order and stillness prevailed. 
But it was a much more gratifying spectacle to 
see them in their Sunday-school, or at Church, 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


137 


comfortably and tidily dressed, in uniform frocks 
and bonnets which their own little hands had 
made. 

Thus passed the life of this widow, in acts of 
charity and mercy. She had been, for very 
many years, an humble follower of her blessed 
Master’s steps. Strongly attached to the Church 
of her choice, and a conscientious observer of all 
its forms and ordinances, she diligently used them 
as aids to devotion, and means wisely provided 
to help her forward in her Christian course. 
While she carefully guarded against “ exalting 
the means of religion to the same importance 
with the end, she never expected to attain the 
end without using the means.” Hence she was 
always to be seen in her place in Church, not 
only on a Sunday, but on all those Holy days, 
when it was opened for prayers alone. Her 
great delight seemed to be in uniting in the 
solemn services of the sanctuary ; and you would 
have thought that, like Anna the prophetess, her 
desire was “ not to depart from the temple, but 
to serve God with fastings and prayers night 
and day.”* 

♦ Luke vii. 37. 

12 * 


138 


THE HISTORY OF A 


Both young and old sought her society ; for 
she was so kind and affectionate, so meek, and 
humble, and cheerful, that religion appeared in 
her in all its simple loveliness and grace. Her » 
conversation on religious subjects evidently 
^ flowed from a heart full of the mercies of God ; 
and her whole life was a beautiful exemplification j 
of the power of godliness. Her religion was : 
“ pure, peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, ! 
full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality 1 
and without hypocrisy.” Her’s was “ the or- ^ 
nament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is, in 
the sight of God, of great price.” She has long : 
since gone to receive the reward of those who 
diligently improve the talent entrusted to them, 
and are “faithful unto death;” and her name ' 
will ever be held in grateful remembrance by all ji 
who knew her. The widow and the orphan, the 
poor, the sick, and the afflicted, whom it was 
her great delight to minister unto, will, as mem- 
ory recalls to them her numberless acts of charity 
and mercy, “ rise up and call her blessed.” As 
a proof of her unwearied perseverance in well- 
doing, it may be mentioned, that at the time of 
her decease, her Saturday sewing school had 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


139 


been continued in her own house, without inter- 
ruption, for about twenty years. Her interest in 
it was unabating to the last ; and a few days 
before her death, she said to one of her near 
relatives, “ What will my poor children do ?” 
That relative kindly promised to superintend 
them, and to continue this most useful and un- 
ostentatious charity ; and well and faithfully has 
the promise been fulfilled. She continued the 
Saturday school in her own house, for five years ; 
and then converted it into an every-day school, 
where seventy poor children are instructed, at 
her sole expense, in reading, writing, sewing, 
knitting, the catechism, and church-music. But 
to return from this digression. After what has 
been said of the pious widow, with whom my 
mistress lived, it scarcely need be added, that she 
“ died in the confidence of a certain faith, in the 
comfort of a reasonable, religious and holy 
hope.” That faith, that hope, was “ only in 
the cross.” She disclaimed all merit of her own ; 
feelingly bewailed her own unworthiness ; and 
expressed her entire and sole reliance on Christ 
her Saviour. With her faculties unimpaired, 
her mind clear to the last, she took an affection- 


140 


THE HISTORY OF A 


ate farewell of her numerous relatives, who ' 
were privileged to attend on her sick bed ; giving 
each of them some pious counsel and advice, and i 
then sweetly fell asleep in Jesus, in the eighty- I 
first year of her age ; having been a communi- 
cant in the Church for more than sixty years. 
Her last wo ds were, “ I die, and am happy.” 
How appropriate to her is that benediction from j. 
heaven, “ Blessed are the dead who die in the j 
Lord ; even so saith the Spirit ; for they rest j 
from their labours, and their works do follow ! 


them.”^ 


* Rev. xiv. 13. 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


141 


CHAPTER XIV. 

The Prayer Book is presented to a clergyman, who 
resigns his parish on account of ill health. — His last 
sermon. — Leaves home for the South. Sail down the 
Hudson. — Early Reminiscences. — Steam-boat adven- 
ture. — Eloquent defence of the Church. — Obituary 
notice of Rev. Mr. N . 

It was my fortune to remain not much more 
than a year under the roof of this most excellent 
lady, but the remembrance of those days is sweet. 
My young mistress, returning home one day 
from the Sunday-school, brought with her a neat 
new Prayer Book, which her minister had just 
presented her. As she showed it to her grand- 
mother, she said, “ Do you know, grandma, 

that our dear Mr. N is about going to the 

south for his health, and next Sunday he preach- 
es his farewell sermon?” 

' Mrs. W replied that she knew it, for he 

had called the day before and informed her of 
his intentions. 

“Oh, grandma!” said the little Charlotte, 


142 


THE HISTORY OF A 


“ how pale he looks, all but that little red spot on 
his cheek, and how short he breathes ; and then 
he seems so feeble, I was afraid he would sink 
down in the pulpit. Do you think, dear grand- 
mother, he will die ?” 

“ I hope, my child, his useful life will be 
spared ; but I fear his disease is too deeply 
seated ever to be removed ; he himself has very 
little expectation of recovering. All things, 
however, are possible with God, and if He 
please, ‘ He can even yet raise him up and grant 
him a longer continuance amongst us and with 
due submission to the divine will, I would 
humbly pray that he may live many years. His I 
death would be a sore affliction to his friends, i 
and a severe loss to the Church of Christ.” [ 

“But is it not strange, grandma, that such | 
good men, so young, so useful, and so much i 
beloved, should be removed out of the world, 1 , 
while so many wicked, and profane, and worth- \ 
less persons are spared ?” \ 

“ The dispensations of Providence, my dear*|, 
Charlotte, are often very mysterious, although I 
we doubt not they are ever righteous, merciful, f 
and wise. You know what the Scripture says, i 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


143 


‘ the righteous is taken away from the evil to 
come,’* while ‘the wicked is reserved to the 

day of destruction.’! Mr. N appears to be 

a Christian, ripe for glory, and God may see fit 
to take him speedily to his reward ; besides, I 
fear we do not deserve a man of such eminent 
piety and talents, and God may also think proper 
to remove this burning and shining light as a just 
punishment for our sins, in not having profited, 
as we ought, by his faithful and zealous labours.” 

“ O, how I wish,” said the little girl, “you 
had been at our Sunday-school to-day ; Mr. 
N addressed the scholars very affectionate- 

ly ; and when he spoke of leaving us in a week 
or two, every scholar in the school burst into 
tears ; for we all love him dearly. He said if he 
should ever return, he hoped to hear that we had 
all been good and dutiful children, and had 
improved by the instruction of our teachers ; 
growing in grace as we grew in age. But if he 
should not come back, he hoped we would 
always keep in mind what he was going to say 
to us from those words of Solomon, ‘ Remember 


* Is. Ivii. 1. 


j- Job xxi. 30. 


144 


THE HISTORY OF A 


now thy Creator in the days of thy youth.’* 
And he then went on to tell us, that none of us j 
were too young to remember our Creator; and j 
that it was important that we should do it now, 
for we know not how soon we must die. He , 
said that Christ loved little children ; and when | 
he was on earth he took them in his arms, and 
blessed them, and said ‘ of such is the kingdom I 
of heaven but then we must be good children 
if we would have Christ love us ; and we must 
pray to God to change our hearts, for the hearts of 
children are naturally very wicked ; and we must 
learn to love God and our neighbours, and do as ^ 
our Bible tells us, and as our parents and teach- ! 
ers bid us, and then, whenever we die, we shall 
go to heaven ; and he hoped we should all meet 
again there, if we met no more on earth. I will 
try to remember all he said, and will pray to our 
Heavenly Father to make me remember it as 
long as I live. He gave each of us a Prayer 
Book, and I saw the tears come into his eyes as 
he laid his hands upon my head and said, ‘ God 
preserve and bless you, my dear little Charlotte.’ 


* Eccles. xii. 1. 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


145 


As I was coming home, I thought how happy I 
should feel if I had any little thing to give him 
to remember me by. You know he has been so 
much at our house, and when my dear father 
died he was so attentive and kind to us all, that 
I love him as a brother. And then I thought, if 
you would allow me, I would give him the 
Prayer Book I found last year, as he has given 
me a new one to-day ; and I dare say, whenever 
he sees it, he will think of his ‘ dear little 
Charlotte,’ as he used to call me.” 

The good old lady was pleased with this ex- 
pression of kindness on the part of her beloved 
grand-daughter ; and, with her consent, I was 
the next day presented to her minister, Mr. 

N . He was gratified with this new proof 

of the child’s affection, and promised to keep 
me by him as a token of her love. 

The following Sunday he preached his last 
discourse, from those words of the Apostle Paul, 
“ And now, behold, I know that ye all, among 
whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of 
God, shall see my. face no more.”* He spoke 


• Acts XX. 25. 
13 


146 


THE HISTORY OF A 


of his approaching death with the greatest com- 
posure, and said that in going to a milder climate, 
he rather yielded to the urgent solicitations of 
his friends, than to any expectation he himself 
had of being benefitted by it. 

His exhortation to his people was eloquent 
and affecting in the highest degree. The whole 
congregation w'ere dissolved in tears, as they 
listened to the persuasive language of the dying 
man. He conjured them not to depart from that 
Church to which they had professed an attach- 
ment; but to keep steadily in the “ old paths,” 
to “ hold fast the form of sound words,” and 
“ earnestly contend for the faith which was once 
delivered unto the saints.” Then quoting the 
words of a late pious prelate, he said, with great 
emphasis, “ Should you at any time be tempted 
to go away from your Church, say with un- 
shaken attachment. To whom should we go? 
Here are pure doctrine, and a primitive ministry 
and discipline, here are the words of eternal life, 
and we know and are sure that if we fail of ob- 
taining eternal felicity, the loss must be attrib- 
uted to our own neglect.” After an earnest 
persuasive, to all his hearers, to “ strive to enter 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


147 


in at the strait gate,” and to “give diligence to 
make their calling and election sure,” while the 
day of salvation lasted, he closed with those 
words of the Apostle, “ And now, brethren, I 
commend you to God and to the word of his 
grace, which is able to build you up, and to give 
you an inheritance among all them which are 
sa^tified.”* 

The next day he took his departure for the 
south. He travelled by slow and easy stages, 
until he reached the Hudson ; there he went on 
board a steamboat; and, attended by a single 
friend, he proceeded to New York. An incident 
1 occurred, on his passage down the river, which 

I deserves to be recorded ; as it serves to show 

I how all the kindliest charities of life, and the 

! holiest affections of the heart, may be outraged, 

by persons of more zeal than knowledge, and 
more bigotry and cant, than good manners or 
good feeling. 

My master had retired to the upper deck, far 
away from the gay and noisy crowd of passen- 
gers, that he might indulge, in solitude, his 


* Acts XX. 32. 


148 


THE HISTORY OF A 


mournful meditations. There he sat alone, ' 
wrapped up in the ample folds of his cloak, to ' 
guard against the dews of evening, which now 
began to fall. His friend was pacing the deck 
in silence, while my master’s thoughts were far 
away with that beloved flock which he had just 
left ; or with that dear fire-side circle, that bright 
band of sisters, whom he was never to see again 
on earth. The memory of departed days came 
over him with a pleasing sadness, and the tear 
stole unbidden to his eye, and coursed down his 
cheek. Just then the boat was passing his i 

native village, which stood on the western bank | 

of the Hudson. It arrested his attention, and at j 
once diverted his thoughts to anotlier, but not 
less melancholy channel. The sun had sunk ! 
below the horizon, leaving a rich crimson glow j 
behind ; and directly over his native town, shone 
forth in all its brightness and beauty, the “ liquid 
eye of eve,” a fit emblem of his pure spirit 
which was soon to shine forth, like that star, for 
ever and ever. The house where he was born, 
the church in which he was baptized, and where 
he had so often worshipped, were distinctly to 
be seen, as the boat glided along. He riveted 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


149 


his eye upon them, and memory, busy memory, 
was occupied with the scenes of by-gone days, 
when the train of his meditations was rudely 
broken by a tall, gaunt personage in black, who 
thus accosted him, “ And so I hear you are 
going to south for your health V ’ My master 
replied by a slight inclination of the head, and a 
momentary pause ensued ; but the stranger was 
not thus easily shaken off ; lengthening his thin, 
dark visage, he began, in a whining tone, by 
telling my master that he looked as if he would 
not live long; that, understanding he was an 
Episcopalian, and feeling a deep interest in his 
soul’s welfare, he considered it his duty to tell 
him that Jie thought his state a most dangerous 
one. Episcopalians, he said, do not believe in 
the necessity of a change of heart ; they rely on 
their good works, not on the merits of Christ ; 
and whoever belongs to this corrupt Church, 
must abjure her errors and come out from her. 
Many other things he uttered against the Church, 
in the same coarse and unfeeling ^train. 

Neither the boldness nor the vulgarity of this 
attack discomposed or intimidated my young 
master. He heard the unknown assailant pa- 
13 * 


150 


THE HISTORY OF A 


tiently through ; but when he spoke of abjuring 
his faith, a flush of indignation mantled over his | 
pale face. He rose, and elevating his manly ! 
form, he replied with a dignity and mildness 
befitting a minister of Christ, and in a strain | 
of eloquence which I have never heari surpass- I 
ed. He spoke with the utmost calmness of his 
own dissolution, as an event not far distant, and 
as one which he trusted, through the merits and 
mercies of his divine Redeemer, would consum- 
mate his felicity. “ And why,” he said, “ should 
I fear to die in the bosom of that Church which ; 
is ‘ built on the foundation of the Apostles and I 
Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief | 
corner stone V Can I, a minister of the Epis- 
copal Church in these United States, forget that | 
‘ we boast our origin from a Church w^hich, in j 
reference to the soundness of her principles, the ; 
talents and piety of her clergy, and her efforts j 
in the cause of the reformation, still maintains j 
the proud title which at the first she acquired, i 
of being the glory of the Reformed Churches ; j 
a Church which Cranmer, and Latimer, and ■ 
Ridley enriched by their blood ; in whose cause | 
Chillingworth, and Hooker, and Horsley, exerted 1 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


151 


the strongest powers of intellect, and employed 
the most varied and profound erudition ; which 
Barrow, Tillotson, Porteus, honoured by their 
eloquence ; in which Andrews, and Taylor, and 
Horne, displayed the lustre of a fervent piety ; 
a Church which, striking off the infirmities, the 
lukewarmness, and the weakness of old age, 
now comes forth in the vigour of Apostolic 
youth, to carry the cross of the Saviour, that 
pledge of salvation, to the strong holds of pagan 
power ; and to illuminate, with the light of scrip- 
tural truth, the regions where error and super- 
stition have held their reign ?” 

As my master pronounced this last eloquent 
period, the language of an eminent living prelate, 
the stranger slunk away, without a word in reply, 

and Mr. N retired, exhausted with fatigue, 

to his birth in the cabin. 

He took passage in the first packet which 
sailed from New York to Charleston ; and for a 
time, the sea air and the balmy breezes of the 
south seemed to revive him ; but he speedily 
sunk under his disease, and his spirit took its 
flight to the mansions of eternal rest and blessed- 


ness. 


152 


THE HISTORY OF A 


Shortly after his death, the following obituary 
notice appeared in one of the religious periodi- 
cals of the day; which, out of respect to his 
memory, I take the liberty to transcribe. 

“ Died, at Charleston, on a journey for his 

health, the Rev. W. D. N . By an intense 

application to study, and diligent discharge of 
parochial duties, he induced a consumptive 
disease, which terminated in dissolution. A 
young man, dear to his parents and friends, dear 
to the congregation who had been blessed with 
his ministerial labours, and dear to the Church 
in general, he will long be remembered and 
lamented. Seldom have we been called to notice 
so promising a flower in the Church, blighted 
before it was full blown. Possessing genius, 
education, and talents, which fitted him for 
usefulness, he adorned them by a piety and 
virtue, surpassed by that of few of the same 
age. Well instructed in the principles of the 
Church, and under the most thorough conviction 
of their accordance with the gospel, he was 
scrupulously exact in the observance of her requi- 
sitions, and in the respect and reverence due to 
her established authorities. He had a solidity 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


153 


and firmness of character highly becoming the 
sacred office. As a man, he was respected and 
beloved, because amiable and sincere ; and as a 
Christian minister, faithful, circumspect, and ex- 
emplary. He is gone. Thus doth the providence 
of God, in -wisdom which we cannot compre- 
hend, see fit to take from us the young as well 
as the aged. And thus ‘ in the midst of life we 
are in death.’ Blessed are those who, in ‘ the 
communion of the Catholic Church,’ are met by 
death, ‘ in the confidence of a certain faith, in 
the comfort of a reasonable, religious, and holy 
hope, in favour with God, and in perfect charity 
with all the world.’ In such a state, we trust, 
the subject of these remarks departed the present 
for a better life.” 

I • was sent home, among others of his books 
and papers, to his afflicted friends in the western 
part of New York ; and was soon after present- 
ed, as a token of rfemembrance, to a clergyman, 
an intimate friend of the family, in whose pos 
session I now remain. 


154 


THE HISTORY OF A 


CHAPTER XVII.' 

Visit to the Oneida Indians, in New York. — Interesting ; 
religious services among them. — Confirmation. — Com- ■ 
munion. — An Indian Council. — The Liturgy admira- 
bly adapted to the circumstances of the heathen. — Duty 
of Christians in reference to the Indian tribes. 

I 

Several years have passed away since I be- i 
came the property of my present master ; and 
it has been my privilege to travel with him 
through most of the United States. In the i 
course of my travels, I have witnessed many i 
interesting and instructive scenes, which might I 
be detailed, were it not that I am afraid of pro- [ 
tracting my history to an unreasonable length, i 
Some events however have occurred, since those ! 
related in the last chapter, which are too im- 
portant to be omitted in a history like this, and ^ 
which I shall therefore now relate. I 

The first was, the visit of Bishop H to 

the Indian settlement at Oneida Castle, in the | 
western part of the state of New York. The 1 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


155 


Bishop, at that time on one of his diocesan tours, 
passed a night at my master’s house, and invited 
him to go with him the next day to see the 
Oneidas. My master, pleased with so favour- 
able an opportunity of visiting this interesting 
people, arose very early, and putting me in his 
pocket, proceeded with the Bishop to the castle. 
It was a delightful morning in September ; the 
air was fresh and exhilarating ; and, as they had 
about twenty miles to ride, the top of their car- 
riage was thrown back, that they might have an 
uninterrupted view of the country through which 
they travelled. I mention this last circumstance, 
in order to convey a more distinct idea of the 
scene which follows. 

Information having been previously conveyed 
to the Indians, of the Bishop’s intended visit, a 
party of fifty or sixty of their tribe, with their 
chiefs and interpreter, came out several miles on 
horseback to meet him, and to escort him to 
their church. They had been waiting on the 
road for several hours ; and when they saw us 
approach, they hastily re-mounted their horses, 
arranged themselves on each side of us, in single 
file ; and, thus attended, we proceeded on 


156 


THE HISTORY OF A 


towards their settlement. It was indeed a novel 
spectacle, and a most gratifying proof of the af- 
fection which these natives bore towards their 
spiritual father. Never shall I forget the delight 
with which the Bishop, rubbing his hands, 
exclaimed — “What would some of my Lords 
Bishops of England say to this ? The Bishop 
of New York, in a one-horse carriage, driven by 
one of his presbyters, escorted by half a hun- 
dred natives of the forest, dressed in their fanci- 
ful costume, and all going to witness and partici- 
pate in the most solemn Christian ordinances ; 
and in a church, too, erected by these Indians 
themselves !” As the procession moved along, 
groups of Indian women and children, with their 
clean white blankets, some with blue mantles, 
wrapped around them, might be seen hurrying 
across the fields towards their place of worship. 
This was a neat edifice of wood, standing in a 
retired and quiet spot, and possessiii^ all the 
requisites for a decent and orderly performance 
of the service. The Bishop, and such of the 
neighbouring clergy as could be present, having 
taken their seats in the chancel, the services 
commenced with a few verses from the Psalms, 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


157 


translated into Indian, and sung by about one 
hundred natives in the gallery, with whom many 
of those below united. The church was entirely 
tilled ; and it was estimated that more than five 
hundred of the persons present were Indians. 
A more devout and attentive audience I have 
never seen. There is always, indeed, an appear- 
ance of gravity and decorum in the Indians, 
which is peculiarly impressive, as they stand or 
kneel, with their eyes cast down, and their 
mantles wrapped closely over their heads. 
Nothing can be more striking than the reverence 
with which the pious Indian approaches the 
altar, to receive the holy communion. Those 
who have witnessed it once will never forget it. 
On the occasion now alluded to, the usual service, 
which consists of a literal translation of the 
Liturgy into the Mohawk tongue, was read by 
their catechist and teacher, in which the whole 
congregation united with much apparent serious- 
ness and devotion. The responses were made 
in an audible and solemn tone, and the hymns of 
praise were chanted forth by hundreds of voices, 
in a manner which proved that they “ sang with 
the spirit, and with the understanding also.” 

14 


158 


THE HISTORY OF A 


Immediately after prayers, the holy rite of ^ 
confirmation was administered to ninety-four 
native Indians, and three whites, who had been 
'• previously instructed for that purpose ; and after 
that, about fifty partook of the holy sacrament 
of the Lord’s Supper. Never have I witnessed 
a more impressive and solemn scene. To 
behold nearly one hundred of these once wild 
sons of the forest, not only civilized, but chris- 
tianized, and coming forward of their own accord, 
to “renew and ratify the solemn vow which was 
made at their baptism;” publicly renouncing 
their idolatry, and openly “ professing the faith 
of Christ crucified what heart could remain 
unaffected at the sight? 

The nature of the service was, evidently, 
perfectly well understood by them ; and if we 
may form an opinion from the seriousness and 
humility of their demeanour, and it is only by 
the “outward appearance” that man can judge, 
they all came forward with sincere and pious ' 
resolutions of living agreeably to their solemn 
engagements. After confirmation and the com- 
munion were administered, the Bishop address- 
ed them, through the medium of an interpreter. 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


159 


in his usual affectionate and impressive manner ; 
but in the plainest and most simple language, 
suited to their comprehension. He was listened 
to with the profoundest attention and respect, 
for they looked up to him as their spiritual 
father, and always addressed him by that endear- 
ing title. 

At the request of some of their chief men, the 
Bishop afterwards met about two hundred chiefs 
and warriors in council, on their ancient council 
ground at Butternut-grove. The warriors, as 
they are termed, or principal men of the nation, 
to the number of one hundred and eighty, were 
seated on the ground in a large circle, and with- 
in that about fifteen or twenty chiefs were ranged 
in a circle around the Bishop and his attending 
clergy, for whom chairs had been provided in 
the centre. One of the chiefs then rose and 
I explained, through an interpreter, the object of 


I 


! 

I 


this council, which was to obtain their “Father’s” 
advice, in relation to some difficulties at present 
existing in a remote part of the tribe. The 
Bishop gave them the solicited advice, in a very 
friendly and affectionate manner ; and after he 
sat down, the council was addressed by “ the 


160 


THE HISTORY OF A 


chief orator of their nation,” in a most animated, 
and, judging from the effect produced, in a most 
eloquent speech. The whole scene was highly 
picturesque, and would have afforded an admira- 
ble subject for the pencil of the artist. The 
chiefs and warriors, ranged after their ancient 
custom, in concentric circles around their spiritual 
father, listening with respectful and profound 
attention to his Christian counsel : the numerous 
little groups of Indian women and children, 
scattered all around, as near the outer circle as 
they could conveniently approach, and where 
they might hear the different speakers — the 
beautiful grove, waving its rich foliage above 
their heads — the luxuriant fields of grain around, 
the fruit of their own labour and industry — 
formed altogether a picture on which the eye 
of the Christian or the painter might repose with 
delight. It brought to my mind the celebrated 
interview and treaty of William Penn, with the 
Indians of Pennsylvania. 

At the conclusion of the council, the head chief 
presented the Bishop with a string of wampum, in 
the name of the whole tribe, as a token of respect, 
and a solemn pledge of their unshaken fidelity. 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


161 


Only ten years before, a church was erected 
for their special benefit, and principally with 
funds arising from the sale of some of their 
lands. Since that time, through the divine 
blessing, they have been gradually improving in 
the arts of civilization ; and numbers of them, we 
trust, have attained, and are attaining, that 
“ knowledge which maketh wise unto salvation.” 
The inimitable Liturgy of the Church, faithfully 
translated into their native tongue, has doubtless 
been a powerful auxiliary to their religious in- 
struction. While it exhibits to their untutored 
minds the great truths of revelation, in plain and 
simple terms, while it unfolds the whole scheme ^ 
of redemption in a clear and connected manner, 
it gives them a part to perform in the solemn 
services of the sanctuary, and supplies them 
with language, pure, simple, and scriptural, with 
which to offer up their devotions to the throne of 
the Most High. 

Let those who deny that our Church has 
made ample provision for the spiritual instruction 
and improvement of all her children, and let 
those, too, who doubt that a prescribed form of 
service is adapted to the circumstances of the 
li* 


162 


THE HISTORY OF A 


heathen, visit the Oneidas in their house of wor- 
ship. Let them witness the profound humility 
with which the confessions are made ; the deep 
reverence, the fixed attention, with which they 
listen to the sacred scriptures ; the fervour and 
devotion with which the prayers are responded, 
and the hymns of praise chanted forth, by the 
united voices of the congregation. Here they 
may see a practical proof of the efficacy of our 
forms and ordinances, in instructing and enlight- 
ening the most ignorant and savage tribes ; and 
they may also see that our Liturgy is admirably 
suited to all classes and conditions of men, when 
*they meet for public prayers and praises. Here, 
too, they may see that our Church is not un- 
mindful of her duty to the heathen ; that she is 
ever ready to extend to them her own invaluable 
privileges and blessings, as opportunities offer, 
and means are given. And while we conceive 
that the .first duty of Christians is to make pro- 
vision for those “ who are of the same household 
of faith,” their next duty undoubtedly is to 
provide for the spiritual wants of the heathen at 
home. And it becomes more imperatively our 
duty, to do all in our power to promote the 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK, 


163 


temporal and eternal welfare of the Indians 
among us, from the consideration of the number- 
less wrongs which they have received at our 
hands ; and from the mournful reflection, too, 
that they are fast fading from the land, and that 
ere long reparation will be impossible ; for, like 
their own native forests, they will have passed 
away. 


CHAPTER XVIII. 

Oneidas at Green Bay. — Prayer Book’s extensive travels. 
— Interesting statistics of the Church. — Tour through 
the Southern and South-western States. — Bishop of 
Tennessee. — Interesting anecdotes of him, and of the 
Bishop of North Carolina. 

A FEW years after my visit to the Oneida 
Indians, as related in the last chapter, about 
eleven hundred of the tribe, including all those 
who belonged to the Episcopal Church, removed 
to the Wisconsin Territory, and settled on their 


164 


THE HISTORY OF A 


( 
i 

i 

lands at Duck Creek, in the vicinity of Green j 
Bay. Their faithful missionary and his family j 
soon followed them, and he is now labouring 
among them with his customary zeal. It so 
happened, that I had an opportunity of spending 
some days within a few miles of this their new 
location, of seeing several of the chiefs of their 
nation, and of hearing from them of their im- 
provement in the arts of civilized life, and their 
advancement in the Christian religion ; of all i 
which I shall presently give an account to my 
readers. 

I had been the property of ray present master 1 
about ten years, when he accepted of an agency j 
in the church, which required him to resign his 
pastoral charge, and to travel through a large j 

portion of our country. As I was his constant ; 

companion, I had an opportunity which very ^ 
few enjoy, of witnessing the growth and pros- 
perity of the church in every part of our land. j 

And while we saw much, very much, that called , 

for our gratitude and praise, we were frequently 
led to mourn over the apathy of Episcopalians, | 
in not putting forth greater efforts for the exten- ■ 
sion of our beloved Zion, especially in our new ! 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


165 


states and territories. Wherever we went, we 
saw “fields white unto the harvest,” but no 
labourers to put in the sickle and reap ; and often 
did my master exclaim, Oh ! that the members 
of our communion could witness the spiritual 
destitution of those who are of the “ same house- 
hold of faith ; how fervently would they then 
pray “ the Lord of the harvest, to send forth 
labourers into his harvest!” 

As a proof of the rapid extension of the 
Church in the United States, I mention the fol- 
lowing facts, gathered from authentic documents. 
In the year 1792, eight years after the consecra- 
tion of our first Bishop, there were but one hun- 
dred and ninety-three Episcopal clergymen in all 
our states and territories, including the five 
i Bishops, who were then living. In 1820, there 
were three hundred and thirty-one ; having in- 
creased only one hundred and thirty-eight, in a 
j period of twenty-eight years. In 1832, there 
I were five hundred and sixty-four, including 
twelve Bishops ; and in 1842, there were eleven 
j hundred and forty -five, with twenty-one Bishops. 
Thus it appears that the number of clergy of 
the Episcopal Church has more than doubled in 


166 


THE HISTORY OF A 


the last ten years. Thes^ are interesting facts, 
and well calculated to cheer and animate the 
hearts of those, who love the ways of our Zion. 
“ O pray for the peace of Jerusalem ; they shall 
prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy 
walls, and plenteousness within thy palaces. 
For my brethren and companions’ sakes, I will 
wish thee prosperity. Yea, because of the 
house of the Lord our God, I will seek to do 
thee good.” 

My master’s first official tour was through the 
southern and south-western states. It would 
occupy too much space, in a history like this, to 
relate the many incidents that occurred on this 
extensive journey, which we were about three 
months in performing. In most of the large 
cities through which we passed, on the Atlantic 
coast, we found the Church in a highly prosper- 
ous state ; but in the south-western portion of 
our country, it languishes for want of more 
Episcopal supervision. We had the pleasure of 
meeting several times, in our tour, with the 
Bishop of Tennessee, who had been making an 
official visit to the scattered congregations in that 
extensive region. In naming this excellent pre- 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


167 


late, an anecdote is brought to mind, which so 
forcibly illustrates the value of a single Prayer 
Book, that I shall here place it on record. It 
was related at a meeting in behalf of a Prayer 
Book Society, where my master was present; 
and I am sure my readers will thank me for 
giving it to them in the speaker’s own words. 

“ Most interesting anecdotes of the acceptable- 
ness of the Prayer Book,” said the right reverend 
speaker, “ and of its great usefulness in turning 
sinners to righteousness, have been often related. 
The country is full of them. I could occupy 
much time in showing how powerful it has been, 
through grace, in extending the borders of the 
Redeemer’s kingdom, and in building men up in 
our most holy faith. I will content myself with 
two, but those very remarkable instances. A 
clergyman, of distinguished intelligence and be- 
nevolence, was travelling some years ago in a 
1 region remote from the strong holds of the 
i Church ; detained at a country place by an 
j accident which happened to his carriage, he met 
I with an interesting boy, with whom he was so 
1 much pleased, that on parting from him in the 
: morning, he gave him a Prayer Book. There 


168 


THE HISTORY OF A 


was then no acquaintance with the Church on 
the part of him or any of his family ; perhaps 
not even among their neighbours. I have no 
time to trace his subsequent career, nor do I ; 
know when the influence first exerted itself on 
his mind, nor what its process was in his heart. 
But I know that that boy is now the Bishop of ! 
North Carolina. 

“ A young man, a graduate of one of our 
southern colleges, was elected to a tutorship. : 
As tutor, it was his duty to conduct the morning I 
devotions of the chapel. He was not then a ii 
religious man. As he himself told me, he did , 
not know how to pray. It was a most irksome, 
and it must be feared, an unprofitable task. A 
friend had compassion on him, and gave him a i 
Prayer Book. It was the first that he had ever : 
seen, and it rendered that easy which before was 
difficult and unsatisfactory. I know not how : 
long after this it was that he attached himself to ’ 
the Episcopal Church. But I know that that 
young man is now the Bishop of Tennessee.” 

These are most encouraging facts, to those 
who are engaged in the gratuitous distribution of 
the Book of Common Prayer ; and to them may 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK, 


169 


be addressed the emphatic exhortation of the 
wise man, “ In the morning sow thy seed, and 
in the evening withhold not thine hand ; for thou 
knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or 
that, or whether they both shall be alike good.” 


CHAPTER XIX. 

Tour through the great lakes, to the Wisconsin Territory. 
Diocese of New York, — its rapid growth. — Detroit; 
prosperity of the Church there. — Mackinac ; lay read- 
ing by an officer of the fort. — Green Bay Mission 
School. — Oneida Indians at Duck Creek. — Their zeal 
and liberality. — Bishop of Michigan’s visit to them. — 
The Prayer Book finishes its travels, and settles quietly 
down in a parish. 

Soon after my master’s return from his south- 
ern journey, he had occasion to make the tour of 
the upper lakes, for the purpose of visiting some 
of our missionary stations in the Wisconsin Ter- 
ritory; and I was again his companion in his 
15 


170 


THE HISTORY OF A 


travels. We left home in the month of July, I 
1836, for the “ far west,” and travelled leisure- | 
ly through the state of New I’erk ; as my master j 
found it necessary to officiate in most of the |' 
principal towns on our route. I shall not h 
attempt a description of the beautiful country 
through which we rode, nor of the interesting 
voyage across those mighty inland seas, which 
form the northern boundary of our country. An 
account of all that we &aw and heard, would fill 
many such volumes as this. That which most 
gratified my master, was the evidence of the 
rapid increase and healthful prosperity of the | 
Church, every where so apparent ; but in no | 
portion of our country so much so, as in Western 
New York; for he remembered to have heard ; 
the late venerable Bishop of Virginia say, that j 
when he was ordained deacon in the city of New 
York, he was the sixth or seventh clergyman in ^ 
the diocese; a diocese, or rather two dioceses, , 
which now number more than three hundred | 
clergymen ; one-fourth part of the whole number 
in the United States. And this unparalleled in- : 
crease is manifestly owing, under God, to their 
diocesan missionary efforts. 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


171 


But to return to our journey ; — passing through 
Western New York, by the usual stage route, 
we stopped a single day to view the stupendous 
falls of Niagara, that sublimest of all earthly 
scenes, and then took passage at Buffalo in a 
steamer for Detroit. Here we were detained 
several days, waiting for a boat to take ns to the 
upper lakes. We had thus an opportunity of 
gathering some interesting facts in relation to the 
church in that city. Only thirteen years before, 
the church was organized; and until within 
three or four years, it remained under the patron- 
age of the General Missionary Society. For a 
I long time, the congregation, being without a 
I pastor, was not only kept together, but actually 
' increased, by lay reading. The year we visited 
I it, they contributed more than a thousand dollars 
towards the support of missions; thus paying 
back, with large increase, the funds which they 
formerly drew from the missionary treasury. 
Their present prosperity is a striking proof how 
much good may be accomplished, by fostering 
the infant churches in our new settlements. 

Leaving Detroit, and passing up the Detroit 
river, across the little lake St. Clair, we entered 


172 


THE HISTORY OF A 


the mighty Huron. Our first considerable | 
stopping place was at the beautiful island of i 
Mackinac, midway between lakes Huron and 
Michigan. Here we found a few Episcopalians, 
who had long been in the habit of meeting 
together every Lord’s day, when one of the 
officers of the garrison read for them the daily 
service and a sermon. It was delightful to see 
this pious soldier gathering his companions in 
arms around him, in the performance of the 
public duties of devotion. Before we left, he 
sent to my master a sum of money which he 
desired might be appropriated to the spread of the \ 
gospel. Thus, as it was with good Cornelius I 
the Roman soldier, we trust not only his prayers, 
but his alms, “ came up as a memorial before 
God.” 

In a day or two after leaving Mackinac, we 
reached the mission school at Green Bay; where 
we remained about two weeks. Here we found 
seventy Indian children, between five and 
fifteen years of age ; the greater part of whom 
were Menomenees and Oneidas. It was most 
gratifying to witness the improvement which 
they had made in the knowledge of divine things, 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


173 


and in human learning, under the faithful, zealous, 
and devoted superintendent and teachers, who 
first had charge of the school, as well as those 
to whom it was now entrusted. And it is pain- 
ful to think, that after all the labour and expense 
bestowed upon this establishment, it has been 
broken up ; but the removal of the Indian tribes 
from thatterritory rendered this result unavoidable. 

While at Green Bay, my master was provi- 
dentially prevented from visiting the missionary 
station at Duck Creek, as he had intended, and 
was most anxious to do. He however received 
a visit from their excellent missionary, accompa- 
nied by three chiefs of the Oneida tribe, from 
whom he learned that their missionary establish- 
ment was in a flourishing condition ; that there 
were eleven hundred souls belonging to the 
whole tribe of Oneidas at Duck Creek ; of whom, 
five hundred belonged to the missionary’s parish, 
and eighty of these were communicants ; that 
the tribe had made considerable advancement in 
civilization, and now cultivate their farms, and 
enjoy the comforts of settled domestic life. 
They expressed a strong desire to have another 
edition of the Prayer Book printed for them in the 
15 * 


174 


THE HISTORY OF A 


Mohawk language, as the present one was nearly 
exhausted. They further stated to my master, 
that while destitute of a clergyman, which was 
for several years, one of their own tribe had 
officiated by a license from the Bishop of New 
York, as lay reader, and thus kept them from 
wandering into strange pastures ; that they had 
persevered, through much opposition and many 
discouragements, in adhering firmly to the Epis- 
copal Church ; and they were resolved, by God’s 
help, to live and die within her bosom. As a 
proof of their zeal, it should be remarked that 
they defray one-half of the missionary’s salary, 
and pay one hundred dollars a year towards the 
support of a school for their children. The 
chiefs have made an appropriation of $2000 for 
the erection of a church, and $500 for build- 
ing a parsonage-house. One of them also 
made a donation of $200 towards the purchase 
of a bell for the church ; and they have erected 
a school-house, at a cost of about $300. The 
sale or exchange of some of their lands placed 
funds in their hands, a portion of which they 
have thus set apart for the service of Almighty 
God.* 

* Second Annual Report of the B oard of Missions. 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


175 


I cannot better conclude my account of this 
interesting people, than by giving the following 
statement from the Bishop of Michigan’s address 
to his Diocese, in 1837. 

“I visited the Oneida mission station, under the 
charge of the Rev. Mr. Davis, nine miles distant 
from Green Bay. The morning after my arrival, 
I was waited upon and received by the vestry of 
the church, and the chiefs of the nation. At the 
time of service, they walked before me in perfect 
silence, until we reached the church, and then in 
the most polite and kind manner, welcomed me 
to the spot which they had selected for the tribe 
to worship the Lord. The building is made of 
hewn logs, with a neat vestry-room attached. 
On entering the church, the whole congregation 
rose and chanted in their language, the ‘ Te 
Deum.’ It is impossible for me to describe the 
feeling experienced on this occasion. I was 
completely overpowered with the scene ; and I 
could have freely shed tears of joy, thus to 
witness the inhabitants of the forest singing 
hymns of praise to God. The services were read 
in their own language, by their pastor. The 
responses were well made by the whole congre- 


} 


176 


THE HISTORY OF A 


j' 

gallon. I preached to them through an interpre- 
ter ; after which I confirmed fifty-four persons, ; 
several of whom were past three score years. I 
also administered the communion to about 
seventy persons. Seldom, if ever, have I seen 
more apparent devotion in any assembly of 
worshippers. Every one appeared to be entirely 
absorbed in the duties in which he was engaged. 
After the services had been finished, the utmost 
stillness prevailed for a few minutes. There 
was no haste manifested to escape from the 
house of God, as is too often the case in some of 
our congregations. Those who were in the pews 
nearest the chancel, then rose and came to me ; 
and one by one took me by the hand, and silently 
retired. This was done by the whole congrega- i 
tion, without the least confusion or noise. I j 
most fervently invoked the blessing of God for 
each and for all ; and could not help exclaiming i 
again and again, What hath the Lord wrought ! j 
What an evidence of the power of the Gospel of | 
Christ. After spending a short time with Mr. 
Davis and his family, I left ‘ the nation,’ and I 
returned to Green Bay. It is delightful to 
witness the interest and zeal manifested by the 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


177 


missionary and his wife, for the promotion of the 
religion of Jesus in the hearts of this interesting 
people. They are the only white persons 
among them, and of course must daily forego the 
pleasures of social intercourse, and those comforts 
which they have been accustomed to enjoy with 
friends. I trust they will be rewarded a thou- 
sand fold for their self-denying labours, and will 
be able to present many souls as their ‘joy and 
crown of rejoicing.’ ” 

Having accomplished the object which took 
him to Green Bay, my master went on board a 
steam-boat, passed round Lake Michigan to 
Mackinac, and returned by the same route that 
he came ; nor did any thing occur in our journey 
home, which is deemed worthy of being recorded. 
I now occupy a quiet position on his study table, 
without any prospect of ever resuming my travels, 
or of witnessing any other than the ordinary 
events incident to an old-established parish. 


178 


THE HISTORY OF A 


CHAPTER XX. 

The more the Liturgy is studied, the more it will be 
prized. — Testimony of the Rev. Adam Clarke. — The 
Prayer Book’s parting advice. — Concluding reflections. 

I MUST now bring my history to a close. 
Happy should I be, could I flatter myself that 
the story of my life had contributed, in any 
degree, to the pleasure or instruction of those ! 
who have given it a perusal. Perhaps it may 
have been instrumental in removing, or softening 
down, some of the many prejudices which are 
entertained against the doctrines and worship of 
our apostolic Church, by those who have never 
made her articles and liturgy the subject of 
serious examination. Perhaps it may have con- i 
firmed in others, a rational attachment already 1 
felt, for this “form of sound words,” and this 1 
“ faith once delivered unto the saints.” j 

In either case, my labour will not have been | 
altogether in vain; “and I therein do rejoice, j 
yea, and will rejoice.” 1 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


179 


Certain I am, that if persons would take a 
little more pains to instruct themselves in the 
nature of the Christian Church, and bring to 
the investigation “ an honest and good heart,” 
disposed to learn and embrace the truth for the 
love of it, the result would be a firm conviction 
that no Church in Christendom is more sound 
and scriptural in doctrine, more apostolic in 
ministry, more pure and primitive in worship, 
than the Protestant Episcopal Church in these 
United States; for all of which she is mainly 
indebted, under God, to her truly evangelical 
liturgy ; and “ Wo to the declining Church that 
hath no gospel liturgy !” 

From this exhaustless fountain, the thirsty 
soul may draw consolations, refreshing as thte 
waters of Horeb to the weary and fainting Israel- 
ites. It only requires to be fully known, to be 
esteemed and loved. Those who have used it 
i with such spiritual feelings and affections as it is 
j eminently calculated to inspire, will say of it, as 
did the celebrated Wesleyan Methodist, Dr. 

I Adam Clarke, “ Next to the Bible, it is the book 
' of my understanding and my heart.” What the 
i pious Bishop Horne says of the Psalms, will 


180 


THE HISTORY OF A 


happily apply to the services of our Church : — 
“They suit mankind in all situations ; grateful as 
the manna which descended from above, and 
conformed itself to every palate. He who 

HATH ONCE TASTED THEIR EXCELLENCIES, WILL 
DESIRE TO TASTE THEM AGAIN; AND HE WHO 
TASTES THEM OFTENEST WILL RELISH THEM THE 
BEST.” 

In taking leave of my readers, I would earnest- 
ly press upon them the duty of diligently improv- 
ing all the means of grace which, in this land 
of gospel light, are so abundantly afforded them. 
“Take heed that the light which is in you be 
not darkness. Learn duly to prize, and to profit 
by your privileges. Learn to pray with the 
heart, and pray with the understanding also. 
Keep your feet when ye repair to the house of 
God ; and offer not the sacrifice of fools ; but 
worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. 
And remember ever, that in vain you have this 
holy book of Prayer in your hands, or in your 
houses, if it maintain not, at the same time, its 
due place in your memories, your hearts, and 
affections.” 

It has been my fortune to pass through every 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


181 


variety of scene, which ever falls to the lot of 
man, in this his earthly pilgrimage; and the 
experience of my whole life has convinced me 
that religion is the one only thing needful; the one 
only object worthy the pursuit of a rational and 
immortal soul. My character and situation have 
often led me, not only to the abodes of wretched- 
ness and want, to the houses of mourning and 
! affliction, but to the habitations also of the rich 
and powerful ; to the halls of mirth, and joy, and 
gladness. I have witnessed scenes of the deepest 
distress, and of as unalloyed felicity, as any 
thing terrestrial can be. I have been with the 
smiling infant, when its first days were conse- 
I crated to the Lord by baptism ; and I have been 
by the death-bed of the aged pilgrim, bowed 
down with the infirmities, and cares, and suffer- 
ings, of four-score years. I have been with the 
blooming bride, where all was festivity and joy ; 
and I have been with the broken-hearted widow, 
when she and her fatherless children were weep- 
ing over the grave of him, who was their only 
earthly support and comfort. I have seen the 
young man in the summer of life, the joy of his 
parent’s heart, gradually wasting away under the 
16 


182 


THE HISTORY OF A 


• 

slow and sure decay of a lingering consumption ; 
and I have seen the strong man suddenly hurried 
out of the world, in the midst of life and health. 
I have been with the poor, despised beggar, 
W'hen about to exchange his sorrows and suffer- 
ings for a place of rest in Abraham’s bosom ; and 
I have seen the rich, and the great, and the pow- 
erful, reluctantly bid adieu to their wealth, their 
greatness, and their power, with fearful appre- 
hensions of that undying wretchedness, which 
awaits those who “ have received their conso- 
lation in this world.” 

But into whatever scenes I have been thrown, 
this conviction has ever been brought home to 
my heart, that religion is the only true wisdom, 
and the only abiding happiness. She is the 
only support and consolation, when all other 
helps fail. In inexperienced youth, she is the 
best and safest guide ; in more advanced years, 
she is the wisest counsellor and the truest friend ; 
and in old age, she alone can make “ the hoary 
head a crown of glory.” In affliction, she sus- 
tains and comforts the mourner, by teaching him 
not to sorrow as others who have no hope ; in 
prosperity, she gives a zest to all the enjoyments 


POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 


183 


of life by making them rational and innocent i 
and in death, that last great change, which 
cometh alike to all, she dispels the dark, porten- 
tous cloud which hangs over the grave, and 
exhibits the tomb to the trembling soul, as the 
gate which opens upon the mansions of immortal 
felicity and glory. Of religion therefore alone 
may it emphatically be said, “Her ways are 
ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are 
peace.” 

And whenever I hear the honest inquirer, who 
desires to make this religion his own, asking 
for the old paths, the good way, that he may 
walk therein, and find rest for his soul, I long 
to point him to that branch of the church catholic, 
in which it is my privilege to be an humble 
minister. I wish to say to him, in the beautiful 
and affecting language of another, not doubting 
that, after a fair trial, he will adopt it as his 
own ; — “ For my own part, I have looked 
anxiously into the character and working of 
many systems of religion, and I trust that I know 
how to respect those who cannot see with my 
eyes ; but, after all my searchings, I find no 
Church like the old one. I love the shade of 


184 HISTORY OF A POCKET PRAYER BOOK. 

the old vine, and the shelter of the old wall with- 
in which my fathers lived well and died happily. 

1 cling to their prayers, their ordinances, their 
grave-stones, to their * Lord, and faith, and bap- 
tism,’ to their ‘ Father and oiir Father, to their 
God and oui* God.’ It is delightful to me, in a 
shifting, fleeting, dying world, to find something 
which lasts. And 1 trust, through God’s infinite 
grace, to be an humble, watchful, loving worship- 
per, in this holy, happy company of the Lord’s 
people, till I change the church on earth for the ^ 
church in heaven.” 


THE END. 























o 'o . * ’* .A. 






4 X^ O 


A°^ . 



- ' 0^ \ ' -.. 

'^°V^ ^ 

V*"^ “^ ' * • ■ • ’* ^o'^ \. * * y 

: f-i :^^m. u 

'»•■* A *^.‘ .0^ V 

°- ..-i^ .-J^*- A fO'^ ^o 

N ^ ^f^5v0u n"^ ^-rr U ♦ 










O • * 



A^ • ^ t 

^ <rCsW\ u' rs^ V 







.3'^ ° 

3> % '’• 


J.'l 

- '^o V^ 

• '"i A. 

A t5> ♦ / 1 

♦ JV V 







.V-»v 







fP'^ .l‘^% °o ..-4.“^ . 


• I 


« 



LIBRARY OF CX)NGRESS 



0D0m73^440 


o 



